Buy-to-Study in London: A Guide for Taiwanese Families

For years, rent and school fees have been two major expenses of sending a child to the UK to study. But more Taiwanese families are now asking: why pay rent when you could own a property instead?

This is the idea behind buy-to-study. Families buy a home near their child’s school, turning rental expenses into an investment they own. This guide explains how the UK school system works, why Barnet is attracting attention and how the new Silkstream phase, The Elmont, fits into the picture.

Three ways into a good UK secondary school

Most parents weigh three routes. Each has a different cost and a different catch.

For independent schools, the facilities are excellent and so are the fees. They often run to tens of thousands of pounds a year, every year. Most top schools are also hard to get into, with entrance exams and interviews.

State comprehensives charge no tuition. The catch here is the address. To get into an Ofsted-rated Outstanding school, you usually need to live within its catchment area. So a home in the right postcode offers two benefits: it supports your child’s education and is a popular choice for families seeking rental properties.

Grammar schools are state-funded, too. So there are no tuition fees. Your child’s entry into these institutions depends on the 11+ exam, not your postcode. This means they draw the strongest students in the area and their results often match or beat the most expensive private schools. Even so, most families want to live close to these schools.

Would you want your child spending one to two hours a day on a cross-borough commute, then getting to heavy schoolwork? Most parents say no, so they choose to live nearby.

Why Barnet

Only a few London boroughs offer both strong catchment schools and top grammar schools. Barnet does. Every state school in this borough is rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted. This area is home to Queen Elizabeth’s School, the UK’s No. 1 boys’ school and The Henrietta Barnett School, the No. 1 girls’ school. St Michael’s Catholic Grammar School is also here.

Together, these three grammar schools recently won 101 offers from Oxford and Cambridge, with no tuition fees.

What the numbers look like over the years

In most cases, school is only the first stage. The same address keeps working as your child grows up.

During school years, a top grammar school or an Outstanding catchment school can save a family roughly £30,000 to £40,000 a year compared with private fees.
Buying a property in Hendon offers easy access to universities. The area offers a convenient Thameslink connection to King’s Cross in under 20 minutes. The Thameslink link makes the journey to UCL and UAL easy.
Beyond university, King’s Cross is also a major business and tech hub, home to companies like Google and Meta. The proximity matters if the child later seeks internships or employment here.
Instead of paying rent for an apartment in central London, a two-bedroom flat in Hendon is a sensible alternative. You could rent the second bedroom to a friend and use that income to cover living costs.

Day-to-day life

Hendon has plenty close by: restaurants, supermarkets and shops. Bang Bang Oriental is a ten-minute drive away on Edgware Road in Colindale. It is London’s largest Asian food hall with over 20 vendors and seating for 450. Visitors and residents can indulge in Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Indian and Malaysian cuisines.

It also marks Lunar New Year and Mid-Autumn Festival with events. The food hall sits on the site of the old Oriental City, long a meeting place for London’s Chinese community

Wing Yip, the Asian supermarket, is hardly ten minutes away. It is a good place to buy fresh seafood, meat and condiments.

Retail therapy is nearby, with Brent Cross Shopping Centre a five-minute drive. It spans 85,000 sqm, with John Lewis and M&S among its anchors.

The Elmont at Silkstream

Silkstream is a riverside community in Hendon, developed by Berkeley. Earlier phases sold out quickly, with strong interest from families in Taiwan and Hong Kong. The Elmont is the latest phase, with 108 private homes. Completion is due in Q1 to Q2 2028.

The VIP pre-launch gives buyers early-bird pricing and first pick of the best layouts.

What comes with the development:

A large Sainsbury's and a Costa Coffee on the ground floor.
The Elmont Lounge, with a karaoke room and co-working space.
A private screening room and a two-storey gym.
Elm Garden, a landscaped roof terrace.
A position beside the Welsh Harp Reservoir, with podium gardens and a waterside walkway.

Why buy through Benham and Reeves Taiwan

Benham and Reeves has more than 65 years of London property experience and our Taipei 101 team works in your time zone. With our assistance, you won’t need to fly to the UK to get started with the property-buying process. We handle it all: choosing the property, legal and mortgage help, snagging, furnishing, lettings and day-to-day management.

Join the Elmont VIP showcase

For access to the early-bird price list and floor plans, visit our upcoming showcase. You can also book a one-to-one session where we walk through the buy-to-study numbers for your family.

Event: 15 November, Taipei 101

Private consultation: one-to-one financial modelling, in person or by video call

Buy-to-study - How Taiwanese families use Barnet property to cover London school and university costs