citybanklondon

Hello Folks,

Could someone suggest how I could bring my family to Chch in December this year leave them in the city after finding a suitable rented house as I need to go back to Saudi to keep supporting them financially and will only have 3 weeks leave to bring them, sort them out and leave. We all have PR granted about 3 mths back. I can book our flights to AKL and then make our way to Chch, my concerns are:

1- where should we stay for the first say 2 weeks- are there furnished apartments / motels available for 2 week occupation?

2- Will I be able to find a rented place in 2-3 weeks for them?

3- How can we find school places (primary level) and 1 nursery place?

My plan is that in June 2014, once the family is happy and decided to accept NZ as their adopted country I will leave Saudi and join them permanently as if I don't my own PR will lapse.

Will appreciate any hints and pointers.....cheers CBL

Persephone

Motels are furnished and most have a kitchen that you can cook simple meals in. I don't know about short stay apartments, it is probable that any around will be taken up by temporary workers.
Possibly. There is a lot of demand for rental properties at the moment, you may or may not be lucky We rented out our house 6 months ago, we had 10 possibles at the open home and this was before it had even gone on the website. Best to get onto this asap as soon as you arrive. I would be surprised if any rental agents show a lot of interest before you land, they have enough people already in Chch looking for houses

Can't help there, sorry. No kids!
I may be misunderstanding your timeline here but your residency will start when you enter NZ for the first time with a resident visa. Your travel conditions will then kick in. Your residency will not lapse until your travel conditions do [two years after first entering] and if you have not spent enough time in NZ at that point then it will be more difficult to renew - very simply! Apologies if I have not understood what you meant
Do your family have a support network in Chch? Six months is a long time for your wife to be on her own in a new country, with children, trying to adjust. Is she planning on working?

P

citybanklondon

Thanks for the reply persephone, Regarding the PR point first, yes I understand we have to enter NZ first but there is a 12 mth time period to do that so what I meant was that if we do not enter by January we shall lose our PR and wont be able to come anymore, we have PR now and the conditions will kick in when we come over in January (if we ever do), secondly a hotel / apartment is available for 2 weeks for about $2500 which is something we may book but what about a 6 month rental? In chch this may be difficult to achieve. We have a friend in Linwood but have been warned its not a nice place to live with kids. I think to buy in NZ we must have a minimum of $300k ? this might get us a 2 or 3 bedroom place. ...perhaps? best would be to rent for the first 6-12 months to assess the place, see our options and then decide to buy. Its a hard decision as we lack support networks, but I am seeking help from a few friends I have met on BE and will see what they say before making the final decision. Last thing if we were to come over for the first year, how much money would it be sensible to bring with us? If we budget on $3500/mth would 45k be enough for the first year, not forgetting that I will be working from the second month onwards and will expect to be bringing an income in.

Jan n Neil

I think/know you'll struggle on $3500 a month if you are paying ChCh rents. 1600-2000 of that will be rent, 400 max will be electricity, 120 phone and internet, 120 Sky..... leaves you with 250 a week for food. Not enough IMHO. Your wife and kids will need SOME money for other stuff!!

Jan

Persephone

Yes, I did misunderstand I couldn't work out how your residency would lapse in July if you'd activated your visa in Jan when you came over.

As for costs- it varies. Do some searches on here for cost of living, there are a lot of threads listing people's weekly/monthly costs.
For instance our electricity bill was usually $100-120 pcm. Highest it ever reached was probably $140. Gas averaged at around $30-40 pcm. Sky $50-60.
I would agree though that $3,500 may be a bit low if you want a decent [ie newer, insulated] house in Chch. But again, it is doable if you are careful. If this is in addition to your salary then you'll be fine

citybanklondon

cheers great help, originally had an idea to come alone first but now changed our mind and don't want to leave my DW to accompany 3 kids on such long flights and so will come together. I really need help finding the right accommodation and will ask a friend in Chch who wanted to move to Rangiora near her job place if we can rent her place or will otherwise have to change choice of city Also I need to know can accommodation via an estate agent be arranged before hand i.e. before arriving if yes well and good, if not then how can I arrange this on arrival? since it will cost a lot to stay in motels while sorting accommodation out unless it can be done in a week or so? If anyone can advise on how to arrange accommodation that would be very helpful. cheers

MOSO

I remember answering previous queries about PR 2 year travel conditions, I thought you had to have already entered NZ (by June). Obviously not!

I also remember you're a secondary school teacher. Bear in mind that the beginning of the school year is Feb here so there won't be many jobs advertised in June when you plan to come and work. Most jobs are advertised around Nov/Dec ready to start the new school year.

I'm sure you're aware but in Christchurch there are about 19 schools closing or merging in December this year due to earthquake damage and/or falling rolls with the almost certain loss of hundreds of teaching jobs so there will be very stiff competition for jobs next year and it is hard enough to get teaching jobs anyway. Would you consider another place in NZ?

As for accommodation, you could try bookabach.co.nz, holidayhouses.co.nz or holidayhomes.co.nz for furnished holiday accommodation but it's peak holiday time in Jan when you plan on arriving so you'll need to book in advance.

I know you're also looking at the UK so that your wife can obtain residency there too. Lots to weigh up......pros and cons to both, although you seem to have back-up cash which should help with costs while you look for work.

Good luck which ever country you decide on....it's a difficult choice to make.

citybanklondon

Precisely MOSO a hard choice to make as you said and yes we will consider Hamilton as choice # 2 if required but thanks all the same for the info to find accommodation (yes initially I will have atleast 50K NZD) to see us out the first 6-8 mths and I am hopeful of having a job secured in the first 6-8 weeks. if not I will go into self employment and invest in a business !

You have a good memory to remember the email thread from 2 years back!
cheers

Persephone

You could try arranging accommodation through an estate agent in advance. However I would expect them to give precedence to those already in Chch. There is currently a shortage so they'll go for someone on the ground as opposed to someone in a different country. We had a lot of people viewing our rental house before it had even gone on the website, the shortage is real and immediate.

Give it a go, you may have nothing to lose. My thoughts though, if they are willing to lease unseen to someone not in NZ, why are there no locals willing to live there...

citybanklondon

Yes I agree its hard to arrange accommodation so I will 100% have to take a hotel for 2 weeks initially and then start the hunt. Since Chch is really acute for housing problems so we have kept Hamilton in mind as option no.2 and it seems more likely now that I will quit and come to NZ with the family and we will see how the first year goes. We are budgeting 50k NZD for the first year and I am sure I will start brining an income in from the second month as I will accept any job initially so the money will act as a useful buffer as I am sure the cost of furniture and household items will be quite high in NZ once we begin to set up home there so the cash will come in handy then.

BEVS

Not really that surprising. I remember all sorts on here from way before a couple of years back.

shellmat

Hello Citybanklondon,

We moved to Chch 6 weeks ago. We initially found a nice bed & breakfast place for 11 days through trip adviser. Once in Chch we starting looking at places through trademe.co.nz after surveying what areas we thought looked nice - actually took the orbiter bus right around the surrounding areas of the city and got a feel/location of shops etc before narrowing it down.

The housing situation here is tough. It was not uncommon to have 20 other people looking at the same property. We finally found a nice 2 bedroom house in Fendalton for $440 per week. It was a little more then we were hoping to pay, however, once you start getting around the $450 per week mark, there is a lot less competition. Our daughter attends Fendalton primary school which is about a 15 min walk from the house - a really nice school. Good luck on your search.

citybanklondon

Thanks Shellmat- that rent is quite steep and unless both husband and wife work and have 2 incomes hard to meet, but just do let me know can a couple work full time with kids aged between 4-10 yrs? I guess not as one has to be home when the kids come from school so the DW may have to go part time? The feedback we have had from my wife's university is that most jobs in her field are in Welly & AKL so we have now been advised by her tutor to look around the Kapiti coast so its 45 mins into Wellington by train. The advantage of Chch for us is that we have a close friend who will accommodate us initially until we get ourselves sorted out.

chippy64

For school age children, a lot of working parents use the OSCAR programmes. OSCAR - Out of School Care and Recreation. The one I work at operates 7.30 to 8.30 mornings and 3 to 6 after school. Holidays are 7.30-6. However, you would have to weigh up the cost of the care with wages earned.

pixiewink

I note you are considering the NI too....bear in mind rent on NI will be more than that quoted for a good area in CHCH, and possible just as hard to find......Have you considered looking outside the CHCH area....either north or south an hour either way you will see a difference in rent....

For example; Ashburton is 1 hour south of CHCH and rents and housing are a lot cheaper...a smaller community which could be better for your OH and kids whilst you are away...just a thought.
Good Luck with what ever you decide.....