Hi,

I want to become a child minder so I wondered if anyone could give me a rough idea of how much money you need to get stated? How much has anyone else started with? I live in West London but I am considering moving to some where in England where the property is cheaper. I want to avoid the north of England as I do not feel that there would be much demand for child minders there. Does anyone know where in the UK is cheaper than London for property?

Hi , can't really help with the costs as I started a long time ago, but there would be the cost of the courses, not sure how
much they are then safety equipment, pushchairs etc toys and resourses.

Hope this will help.

its changed a lot since I started hon. Now here you have to pay for your ICP course whereas I did it free. NOt sure how much.

with start up costs you are looking at

ofsted 35
insurance around £50
changing house and car insurance £0-£50 depending on who you go with
ICO fees - £35

if you have kids of your own, I'd use what you have got then visit boot sales and charity shops for start up items of toys or e-bay/netmums. Travel cots, ebay/netmums - buggies - hold on til you know what ages you've got then again e-bay/netmums/kiddicare.

if your children are older and you are taking on younger children you can 'buy back' your own children's toys. So when you do your tax next year you say you bought back a train set of your child worth £50 - then offset as an expense.

You CAN keep the costs low but I'm the worst it's easy to get carried away with buying lots of things. :thumbsup:

i think ICP is almost £200 and is now known as cypop5 which you have to do through ncma x

Recently been told that in our are (Notts) start up costs will be in the region of £400 - £500 taking into account start up training, first aid, doctor's fee for health check, ofsted fee and public liability insurance.

Why do you think there is no call for child minders in the north of England? I am northern and I am full and could fill my spaces 10 fold. There are folk on here even more northern than I and they are busy too!!!!!!!!!

Wibblex

i agree i am in the north west and full ! i only started up properly 2 months ago in the holidays i am full 4 days out of the 5 x

i'm in yorkshire and as full as i want to be, if i employed an assistant i could easily have another 3 little ones. all the childminders i know are full to bursting!

Why do you think there is no call for child minders in the north of England? I am northern and I am full and could fill my spaces 10 fold. There are folk on here even more northern than I and they are busy too!!!!!!!!!

Wibblex

:D

I was born and raised "up North" spent most of my adult life, coincidentally, in West London, then recently moved part of the way back "up North".

IME there are parts of West London where individuals probably do believe there's no need for CMs in the North. They quite possibly believe Northern children still work down t'pit or in t'mill from an early age! :p

OP asked:

Does anyone know where in the UK is cheaper than London for property?

On comparable properties, you will struggle to find anywhere in the UK more expensive than London, although the variations across London do make it difficult to be specific. We sold a West London maisonette (leasehold) with about 20 years left to pay on the mortgage, which had needed 2 full time incomes to pay the living costs. We bought a Midlands/North semi-detatched (freehold), cleared the mortgage all in one go, and initially went down to just one of us working part time. Go figure. :)

As others have said, set up and running costs can vary a lot. I'm another one who can't stop buying new toys and equipment for the lo's. :D

I'm in Yorkshire I did a childminding briefing course through my local authority at no cost, I also got a starting up grant too don't know if that happens any more though I spent around £500 for equipment and fees etc ofsted fees, doctors fees first aid course insurances etc :)

i'm northern too...perhaps us northerners dont work ..hence no childcare required mmmm....
we may charge less "up north" but cost of living eg mortgages also generally less(unless you live in a castle in the lake district like me ...i wish :D)
you shouldnt need much to set up .first aid ..decent pram if needed and hit the carboot sales,