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Hi All - well a new year, new job, new country and new adventure.
I will soon be moving to Dubai, if anyone can give me there insights on any of the following it would be very helpful....
Rental Home .... 5 beds, european style, gated community - 3 year deal and spending c300k AED per annum .... what do I need to know, best place to see property availability.
Children Education ..... Age 12, 15 & 16 .. British Curriculum, fees no issue.... recommendations appreciated, experiences invaluable.
Pets .... 2 dogs, 1 cat ..... moving our other 3 babies what can you share with me..... vet fees, licences, international travel costs.
Utility Costs.... Can anyone with a 4/5 bed, similar family size tell me how much they pay for Electricity, Gas, Water, Sewers, Phones please.
TV ... need Sky TV or as close an option to this is possible ..... anyone got a top tip.
Thanks in Advance for your Support ...
Steve

Moved to Expat Help

We have lots of info on these subjects in our Expat Help forum, and you can use the Search function in the menu above to find more threads on the same topics. You have a pretty sweet package it looks like! Since your company is spending a lot of money on you, perhaps they could hire the services of a person who does orientation for new residents to Dubai. There are companies like The Experts that will show you around the residential areas and schools and give you assistance for how to get set up. I also recommend the Dubai Explorer book (now in 11th edition for 2007), which tells you everything you need to know about life and getting settled in Dubai.

Hi Steve,

welcome to Dubai.

For 300AED you will easily get a nice 5 bed villa.

There are 3 areas that you should look at depending on how far from work and school you want to live.

1. Jumeriah, close to the city, schools: Dubai College, Jumeriah College, The English School.
2. Emirates Hills, The Meadows, close to Jebel Ali, schools: Dubai British School.
3. Arabian Ranches, don't be fooled by the name, similar to Emirates Hills but inland from Dubai on the main ring road, schools: JESS.

All of the schools that I have mentioned are good.

Not sure about bringing pets, but the Vets are very reasonable and you will have no surprise expenses once they are here.

Utilities per month are
Electricity: 500-1000AED
Gas is negligable (no heating needed)
Water 200AED for personal, 1000 for largish garden is not uncommon.
Sewerage is a small percentage of the water.
Phone: 2AED per minute to the UK

There is no Sky UK. There are 3 providers. Showtime has the football and rugby, Sky News is on e-vision. Orbit is the other one. Sorry no top tips. The illegal cable guys are worse than the 3 providers. Sky Italia is available, but I don't know if it is similar to Sky UK.

For pet relocation you can contact Dubai Kennels and Cattery. http://www.dkc.ae

Sorry, it wasn't The Experts, it was The Specialists - http://www.thespecialistsdubai.com/data ... &display=3

Pretty impressive deal. Of the communities listed, I'd look for Emirates Hills or Jumeirah, Arabian Ranches is quite a bit out. If you're interested in Emirates Hills in particular, get in touch with them asap as there will be a list you need to join.

On Sky TV, there are 3 providers who infuriatingly cut across much of the things you want to watch. Go to http://www.telecom.dic.ae/services_r_dtv.html and select the "digital tv" menu for the 3 companies, Orbit, Showtime and ADD. The prices quoted here are for the Emaar (name of a developer) communities and would most likely apply if you moved to Emirates Hills as they are sole supplier to that area, Jumierah you would need to subscribe separately.

In summary, I'd say Orbit is good for kids, ADD good for sport (they have the Premiership and Champions League at the moment, but the Premiership moves to Showtime in August) and Showtime is good for American shows.

Thanks to all for the info - invaluable...

I will make some investigations based on your support, and also get the relocator assisting me to earn there money.

In summary looks like the Villa will be accessible at the annual rental amount I listed, schools ..... thank you for narrowing down to property close to schools .... I will approach these schools for a prospectus.

Vets - thats a relief, I guess we already spend a fortune in the UK so the worst that can happen is it remains as is.

TV ..... Disaster...looks like its going to be a strong PC and Broadband for the UK channels for the darling wife then.

I am going to be in Dubai in the next few weeks so will setup a full itin for the family to see in Feb when they come over to get further into the detail.

Are the roads as bad as I am told......if so is it going to take a 4X4 with nudge bars front and rear to keep the family safe.
Cost of Living - does Dubai have parity with UK or more expensive.

One thing on TV, a lot of TV over the internet is restricted, either by the UAE government (it also blocks things like Skype) or by the licensing agreements in the likes of the UK.

On cost of living, some things are cheaper (local food/ produce, eating out, taxis, private schooling vs UK private schooling, alcohol from alcohol shops) some things a bit more expensive (rent, imported food and clothes, alcohol in bars/ restaurants). It pretty much evens out to be the same. Rent is the biggest difference, but depends where you're coming from. I came from Glasgow, if you're from the south east of England it might not be too much of a shock, but the tax free status should more than cover it

Edit: On cars, 4x4s are pretty cheap compared to the UK so you can get a good one. Driving is pretty bad, but if you drive defensively and avoid the fast lane as much as you can you'll be OK. Most of the accidents are people driving too close, too fast, not indicating etc, just leave lots of space and let the idiots get on with it.

Thanks Scott - on the TV side is there only one Broadband provider - do you see many people with the larger Satellite systems so they can access direct the Euro/British TV networks.
I understand the level of censorship and guess this will continue.

SteveF123 wrote:Thanks Scott - on the TV side is there only one Broadband provider - do you see many people with the larger Satellite systems so they can access direct the Euro/British TV networks.
I understand the level of censorship and guess this will continue.

Steve,

If your planning to move into one of the Emaar communities, please note that "Larger" Satellite dishes are not allowed, firstly because Emaar (Du) provide TV via cable and secondly they are unsightly.

Steve,

There are 2 different broadband providers but they don't overlap. They are the same price and quality anyway: 200AED for 512kbs which is fine for normal use.

wrt satellite dishes, the larger satellite dishes (3m) that s&o is referring to is for the S.African TV, which some people prefer to get. All other satellite is received using a normal sized dish. Sky Italia and Nova (Greek) are 2 european providers that can be received here. Sky UK cannot be received here.

The only way that you could receive UK TV direct to home via satelite is with the humble telescope.

But If you are deperate for Sky+, consider using a "slingbox". It is not a guaranteed solution, but it is worth a try.

wrt traffic, The roads are full of inconsiderate drivers but you get used to them.
The conjestion can be extremely bad, but can be avoided. With this in mind, the proximity of your house to work and school becomes very important.

We live in Al Barsha 3 and thats a good area of Dubai (in my opinion) to live in. It's located close to the Mall of the Emirates, and is only a 10-15 minute drive to Jumeirah. The only thing about it is that it is on the Bur Dubai side of the creek, so if you want to head to the Deira side it's gonna take you at least 40 mins- 1 hour.

Just my 2 cents.

Ross

good luck with the move