Brisbane - advice on suburbs

[5Evns]

Hi all,

My family and I are looking at moving to Brisbane from the UK. We are dual citizens. We’ve been recommended the following suburbs:

Bardon, Clayfield, Ascot. 

I have heard the two schools we are looking at in the above areas are strictly catchment only and I’m worried about not being able to find a rental fast enough before the new school term commences. As the UK school year starts in Sept I don’t want the kids to be out of school for too long. 
 

We have a 6 year old in Year 1 and 4 year old in nursery at the moment and we are thinking of moving over in October next year so the kids can start the Aussie school year at the end of Jan. 

I was thinking of staying in an air bnb for 4 wks to give us enough time to look for a rental in the catchment area but I’m a bit stressed about the timing of the year and being stuck extending in an air bnb till after the new year. I know rentals in good school catchments go fast. 

Do you think we should move over earlier, say Sept to allow us enough time to find a rental? Also, will my husband need a job contract to secure the rental or will savings in the bank suffice so he can start looking for work after we arrive? 
 

Sorry if some of the above doesn’t make sense! any advice would be fab! Thank you  
 

[Quoll]

I think you shouldn't panic about schools.  Kids are moving all year long, nobody gives a toss if a kid is out of school for several months once you arrive, especially not at 6 and 4.  Take your time, find the house you want to live in and the local school will be obliged to find a place for them so once you've decided on your catchment, you're good to wait until you can find a place.  Actually, trying to find a place just before and after Christmas is not that sensible a move, that's when you get most movement - the lead up to Christmas is when people who know they are being posted are all trying to find a spot, then Christmas is doornail dead, then after Christmas you get the student influx.  

Honestly, dont sweat it.  The kids can start school any time, they dont need to be there on day 1 of term 1. Get your home sorted first.

[Marisawright]

Personally, I'd postpone the move until the second week in January.  That way, you'll arrive just as the real estate agents are opening up again after Christmas, and things start moving again in the rental market.  Yes, it means that if you take a while to find the right property, your kids might miss the first few weeks of school, BUT that is no big deal at all.  No one will mind. 

[Loopylu]

Bardon, Clayfield and Ascot are all very expensive suburbs.  We rented in Clayfield for 9 months when we moved over 13 years ago as my Aussie husband had lived there 15 years earlier. It was conveniently close to the office in the CBD and the short commute freed up my time to study for exams to convert from a UK legal qualification to an Australian one. However, we moved 20km out as soon as we could as we found the area quite snobby and unaffordable to buy in. It was inhabited by ladies who lunch while husbands earned megabucks as professionals.  We were considered an oddity because I worked as a lawyer and my husband looked after our young children.  The last straw for us was when one of our 7 year old sons (we have twins) was handed a note in class signed by most of the boys telling him he should kill himself.  This was Eagle Junction State School and the ring leader was son of a GP.   Back then we were paying $450 a week to live in a three bedroom dump and the parents of the other children looked down on us because of the state of the rental property.  We didn't even have a bath in the one and only bathroom. In our 9 months there, there were 3 break ins in the street as these rich areas are targeted by inner city drug addicts.

As Quoll says, I would not panic about schools and also I would not choose your suburb where you plan to settle until you have spent some time renting anywhere that is convenient and affordable and checking out the area.  

Housing availability (both rental and to buy) and affordability is becoming a big problem in Brisbane.  In our suburb, the average house price a couple of years ago was around $650,000 but now houses are going around here for over a million.  It's crazy. 

All the best with your move. 

[5Evns]

@Quoll @Marisawright @Loopylu 

Thank you all for your advice, I’ve had a long chat with my husband and thinking it might even be better for us to move after the kids finish up the school year here at the end of July. That way we have time to find the right rental and have a look around at suburbs we would like to settle in. 
 

@Quoll what you have said about schools makes so much sense, i needed to hear that so thanks. I’m so stressed over making sure things line up once we arrive but I know we just need to go with the flow. 
 

If my son is in Year 1 now would that mean if we moved over half way next year he would do an extra 6 months of year 1 in Australia? 

@Loopylu We’ve been recommended the north side and those suburbs in particular as it is close to the CBD where my husband will most likely work and the schools are good. Someone mentioned The Gap but I have heard there is only one road in and out and peak hour traffic can be a nightmare. 

We like where we live to have a nice community feel with good parks, cafes and a supermarket close by would help. ideally we would want to buy after a year or two, preferably a 4 bedroom with a pool if possible. 
Any recommendations please?
my husband doesn’t want a long commute to the city though, he likes the sound of Bardon but I can see it’s quite pricey to buy in that area. 
 

Cheers!! 

 

[Quoll]

27 minutes ago, 5Evns said:

 

@Quoll what you have said about schools makes so much sense, i needed to hear that so thanks. I’m so stressed over making sure things line up once we arrive but I know we just need to go with the flow. 
 

If my son is in Year 1 now would that mean if we moved over half way next year he would do an extra 6 months of year 1 in Australia
 

Cheers!! 

 

No idea - when is his birthday and when does he turn 7? It's a foreign country with different cut off dates - heck, even the states can't agree on cut off dates! Queensland is 30 June so if your child turns 7 before 30 June 2022 they would be in year 2 in 2022.  That's technically the situation but many schools will advise that a child whose birthday is, say, April to June, might go into year 1 as that is likely where most of their age cohort will be (holding the younger kids back a year before starting school is quite normal, especially for boys!). Fitting in with a social peer group is considered better than hot housing and they take into account things like physical development, global skills, social skills etc.

Please don't think of it or talk about it as repeating because he won't have done year 1 in Australia before! You will probably find that his core literacy and numeracy skills are well in advance of his age cohort to begin with but there may be other things they're better at, like independent learning, experimentation and research. 

[5Evns]

6 minutes ago, Quoll said:

No idea - when is his birthday and when does he turn 7? It's a foreign country with different cut off dates - heck, even the states can't agree on cut off dates! Queensland is 30 June so if your child turns 7 before 30 June 2022 they would be in year 2 in 2022.  That's technically the situation but many schools will advise that a child whose birthday is, say, April to June, might go into year 1 as that is likely where most of their age cohort will be (holding the younger kids back a year before starting school is quite normal, especially for boys!). Fitting in with a social peer group is considered better than hot housing and they take into account things like physical development, global skills, social skills etc.

Please don't think of it or talk about it as repeating because he won't have done year 1 in Australia before! You will probably find that his core literacy and numeracy skills are well in advance of his age cohort to begin with but there may be other things they're better at, like independent learning, experimentation and research. 

Oh gosh tell me about it, I’ve googled and find it so confusing! We thought of moving to Sydney and noticed the term dates were different too.

He will be 7 in October 2022 so that means he would still be in year 1!? 
I’d be happy for him to do the rest of the year in grade 1 actually, he’s doing well academically here so yes you’re right in that he could develop other skills in the remaining 5 or so months before he starts year 2. 

[Loopylu]

5 hours ago, 5Evns said:

 

@Loopylu We’ve been recommended the north side and those suburbs in particular as it is close to the CBD where my husband will most likely work and the schools are good. Someone mentioned The Gap but I have heard there is only one road in and out and peak hour traffic can be a nightmare. 

We like where we live to have a nice community feel with good parks, cafes and a supermarket close by would help. ideally we would want to buy after a year or two, preferably a 4 bedroom with a pool if possible. 
Any recommendations please?
my husband doesn’t want a long commute to the city though, he likes the sound of Bardon but I can see it’s quite pricey to buy in that area. 
 

Cheers!! 

 

We definitely prefer the north side over the south side so you are heading in the right direction.... The Gap is a decent, friendly suburb with good schools but Waterworks Road has a reputation for a slow commute and is only serviced by buses and not trains.  Our good friends lived there for many years but have recently relocated to our suburb so that they could live on acreage with a separate granny flat for their 21 year old daughter. 

Good parks, cafes and supermarkets can be found in all Brisbane suburbs so you won't have any worries on that front! 

I don't have much experience of Bardon apart from driving through.  That area (Bardon, Paddington and Ashgrove) also suffers from traffic snarls due to the hilly, narrow and winding roads. It has a lot of boutique shops and coffee shops.

As far as commuting is concerned, it can take my work colleagues who live in the 5-7km radius from the CBD sometimes longer than it takes someone to commute 25km by train during rush hour.  Parking in Brisbane is some of the most expensive in the world so, unless the job comes with free or subsidised parking, bus or train is the way to go.  These run very much on time and only tend to suffer disruption during weather events (ie massive downpours/storms).

For more affordable inner northside suburbs you could look at Nundah, Northgate and Wavell Heights. Hendra and Windsor are also popular with young families.  The only other thing you need to take into account in Brisbane is whether the suburb you choose is susceptible to flooding.  You can look into which areas flood on Government websites.

How long is your husband prepared to spend commuting each way?  I would say that the maximum commute anyone does here is 1 hour (although some choose to live on the Gold Coast and spend much longer commuting).  

I hope this information is useful.  

Edited December 28, 2021 by Loopylu

[Quoll]

8 hours ago, 5Evns said:

Oh gosh tell me about it, I’ve googled and find it so confusing! We thought of moving to Sydney and noticed the term dates were different too.

He will be 7 in October 2022 so that means he would still be in year 1!? 
I’d be happy for him to do the rest of the year in grade 1 actually, he’s doing well academically here so yes you’re right in that he could develop other skills in the remaining 5 or so months before he starts year 2. 

Yes, if he is not 7 before 30 June 2022 he will be in year 1 in 2022.  In NSW the cut off is 31 July but not so many May/June/July babies actually start the year that they technically can - it means they are very young going to Uni and any immaturity does tend to show up in those later HS years. The states do have a bit of staggering of school term dates but they all have 200 school days a year - they stagger to help stop pressure on holiday destinations. There has been more of an effort to implement an Australia wide curriculum over the past decade but there are still all sorts of state specific decisions.  It would make life much easier for everyone if all states fell into line but they wont.

[Chortlepuss]

If you are commuting to the city then be sure to choose a place in walking distance of the train or the busway - travelling by car in Brisbane is gruelling in rush hour. I have lived south side and am now west - Sherwood is my favourite suburb, very close to the city but quite vibrant with a primary school one of the best in Brisbane but it’s not a cheap suburb to rent or buy and a lot of it floods. Your chosen suburbs are nice enough but not sure about commuting to city from Bardon. A friend lives in Red Hill/Paddington  which is lovely if you like proximity to the city, restaurants and bars - it even has a ‘proper’ pub which is rare in Brisbane! The hardest part for me coming from a UK village was finding somewhere that felt like a ‘real’ place with a community. It’s mostly suburbia and sprawl here - for many not so important but it’s something I’ve struggled with.