If you are looking at moving to Australia then you must put North Lakes on your short list.

We've added this forum group in response to the high number of hits and referrals we get from the UK.

If you have any questions about the area please post them here an we will try and get an answer for you ...

As an ex-pat pom I'd be happy to chip in with advice on differences, things to look out for when moving to Australia, what you'll miss, what you can't get hold of very easily etc.

Hi Cen and to North Lakes
I've been viewing your forum for a short while and have now decided to post a query.
My partner is bring his tools for his trade (entering as mechanical services and air conditioning plumber) and we need to know if 110 volt power tools work in Australia?
I've also been reading the forums on your teenagers as we have one of our own. It's good to know that there are people who are willing to club together and do something to help them as much as we want to help our own teenager, instead of him hanging out in local churchyards, old playgrounds etc.
Much appreciated for any information provided.
Diane

Hi we're not moving from the U.K, but from Auckland in Sept/Oct. Can anyone tell me a bit about the schools there in North Lakes? In particular the private school. It would be great to hear from someone who sends their children to the local schools so I can get a bit of an insight into what they're like.

Hi Angie,

We've got some brief information on the local schools here on our site:

http://www.northlakes.com.au/Community/LocalSchools/tabid/107/Default.aspx

My wife is a teacher at The Lakes College. It's a great school operated by the Anglician and Uniting Churches. They're now in their 2nd year of operation.

Regards
Scott

I just wanted to thank Scott for the info on schools in North Lakes, in particular the web-site. I've heard good things about the Lakes College, so maybe we'll go for that one. Hopefully they don't have huge waiting lists like many of the private schools in Qld.

Thanks again,
Angie

Australia uses 240v 50Hz single phase supply to every home. You'll have to purchase a step-down transformer to make things work. Be aware that if you're coming from somewhere with 60Hz AC anything with an electrical motor will run slower, including power drills.

Hi Cen
Thanks very much for the reply, very much appreciated.
Just hope you don't mind replying to other questions we might have.
Thanks again
Diane

Hi,
We are Eileen and Phil.  After visiting NL in July we decided that this is where we would like to live.  We are still in Scotland right now but are about to purchase land in NL we hope to be there by July 07.  We like plantation homes and I was wondering if anyone has used them? Maybe they could answer a few questions for me? Such as were they happy with the builder? Any problems? and how long did they take to begin the build, they seem to be quite busy in NL does this mean there is a longer wait before work can begin? We want to get the house built as soon as we can so that we dont have to rent for too long!
Any advice or info would be appreciated!
Thanks

Eileen xx

Eileen,

I know a lady here in North Lakes that built with Plantation Homes and she was very happy. It's actually for sale on our site if you're interested :-)

Regards Scott

 

C'mon Eileen (sorry I couldn't help myself, you must get that all the time> how lame of me).

We built our house with Plantation Homes / Henley Properties and have mixed opinions on the final product. If you are looking for the best value for money than go with Plantation. If you are more into a perfect finish look elsewhere. The old saying "you get what you pay for" I think  when we built they were the cheapest by far. Some of the small one-man builders do a perfect job but of course at a higher cost.

I believe the quality between the Plantation display houses and the ones they build for customers are very different in quality. They use all different labourers for each house and it may be a case of "Pot Luck" to get a labourer who is keen to do a good job. Our house took about 10 months to build from start to finish without any interruptions for  bad weather. They were very upfront when we signed the contract of this timeframe. This was back in 2003/2004 when we had a huge building boom so they may be able to do a quicker job these days. They nominate as part of the contract a timeframe and if it goes over this then they pay you money as compensation. I have heard of one customer who haggled and got the timeframe reduced and the compensation amount increased, I'm not sure of the validity of this but that's what this particular customer told me.

If you have any specific questions you would like to know then feel free to drop me an email

weatherstation@northlakes.com.au

Cheers

Anthony

 

Hi Eileen,

I am the lady that Scott is probably referring to. We built a Plantation Home while we were living in America and I thought everything went very smoothly! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE MY HOUSE! and we did almost everyting via email and conference calls. ( We are from the states...) Anyway, they told us it would take 10 months, but it was actually done about 7 weeks ahead of schedule. Now, we did have my husbands brother here in AUS to help us out. I do think the Plantation displays are beautiful, in fact I went over to them the other day to get some decorating ideas...but I think my house looks just as good as the Plantation ones. We did do alot of upgrades, so maybe that helps. Anyway, I will have my husband reply as well as he can give you more detail. Cheers, Lisa

Hi Lisa,

Thanks for replying it is good to get a balanced view of the builder.  Good to hear that it was completed ahead of schedule too. It does seem to still take some time though I was expecting maybe 15-16 weeks to build.  As long as I know though I can plan for it better. Off the subject I know but if you don't mind me asking how did you find settling in NL coming from America? Could you also tell me if there is much opportunity to join classes around there in the evening, like maybe yoga or aerobics or something? Just something to get me out of the house and maybe make some friends?

Thanks again

Eileen x

Hi Eileen,

Sorry so long to post but we just had guests in from the UK/USA for a week.

I found settling into NorthLakes to be just great. Now obviously, I do have some homesickness but overall EVERYONE I have met has just been terrific. Life in AUS overall is a much slower pace than the USA but that is one of the reasons we moved here. The community is everything it appears to be. Seriously, we sit out on our front porch and say, Gosh, it's just like the brochure with people riding their bikes by! So far so Good! Hope that helps Eileen!

 

Lisa

Thanks Lisa,
Good to know that life in NL is everything it promises to be. Would make things that much harder to be disappointed when I get there. We had thought that it might take around 6mths to build our house and we were going to try and have it built for us arriving or soon after. However after researching it we now understand that it is more realistic to assume a year from purchasing the land and any sooner is a bonus. So seen as we are going to have to rent for a reasonable amount of time then we are going to hold off buying the plot until we get there and that way we can be involved in the whole process more actively.
Thanks again for your help.
Eileen x

Hi Everyone,

I am new to this site so sorry if this has been asked before.  We are hoping to move over from the UK to Brisbane next year and just wanted some opinions/advice on the surrounding suburbs, ie, North Lakes (obviously you all like it), Kallangur, Murrumba Downs, Petrie, Mango Hill, Warner etc.

We will start off with renting but will buy at some point. 

Help please..thanks

G'day MandW,

the suburbs you mentioned all have their strengths and weaknesses to differing degrees. Your final decision will of course be a personal one based on your likes and dislikes. Your intention to rent whilst evaluating all suburbs is definitely the way to go. If you decide to build a new home, I suggest you check out Intrepid Homes.

I moved to North Lakes about six years ago from one of the suburbs you mentioned. I don't regret the move for a second.    

Patch

HI all !
Sorry to disturb you all but here goes anyway - We visited brisbane in Nov 2006 to look for a location to relocate and whilst looking around we stumbled accross north lakes and imediatley thought ** WE FOUND OUR NEW HOME **.
Since then our visas have arrived and our house in UK is nearly sold ! Looks Like removals are packing us in 8 weeks time and then its brisbane bound for us all including the 2 small girls .

The Reason for this message is that since returning to UK we have constantly been looking and viewing brisbane and its suburbs and we still like north lakes but are a little concerned over what looks like a growing problem of anti social actitivies and we are starting to worry as to if we are doing the right thing bringing our family to northalkes a we are hoping to larglely leave this behind us when we leave london.

Could you please give me your own personal views and experiences on this as its very important to me - is it that bad in northlakes ?

Thanks


Lisa & Lee Stopps

Hi Lisa & Lee,

It has become a growing problem in North lakes especially along Discovery Drive (the road which goes right through the North lakes).

In a recent post I made mention about the police presense in the area after dark. But the impression I got when speaking to the officer was that they were unaware of how bad anti-socialism really was as all they had to work with was complaints they received.

But since my talks with the senior officer the other night, he has mentioned that something would be done up until the police station is built next year which will no doubt stamp out these problems.

Unfortunately I can't go in to too much detail about it, but I don't think it's means for concern anymore.

Thanks very much for your reply pyrotiX . I Dont think it will put us off as we loved the family ways of north lakes. SOunds like the police station is needed sooner rather than later though .

regards

lee and lisa

Are there any over 60's, British living on North Lakes?   Would love to hear how you have settled as we are starting the Visa process as we would like to live near our daughter and her family on North Lakes.

Thanks DJ.

We are so shocked there are no Brits over 60 living in North Lakes that subscribe to the North Lakes Community Web page.

DJ