Thank you both for your detailed and helpful comments. I will bear in mind your comments as I negotiate my package. Clearly its not worth my while moving unless I can get decent accomodation without eating into my basic salary. In your opinion is this a temporary phenomenon with rents? Do you think it will ease once the Asian games are out of the way, with all of the current cunstruction I assume giving more supply with regard to accomodation in the long run.

Assuming I can get a decent rent allowance is there availability in the decent compounds. Could you name a couple please for my reference. I think compound living would be more suitable for us bearing in mind where we would be coming from and would give us reasonable facilities on site.

Thank you for recommending Doha college - it sounds like a very good school all the way up to 'A' Levels. I think my potential employer would foot the fees so not too worried about that. I would have to check regarding spaces once I have a firm offer.

Regarding the traffic I doubt anywhere could be worse than Saudi. I assume the traffic jams people often refer to here are not a patch on what I currently experience!!

We always fancied a move at some point to a more liberal city in the Gulf. We had in mind either Bahrain or Abu Dhabi, but I think Doha would be equally suitable by the sound of it. I don't think I would be ahead financially as I am well paid in Saudi with little to spend my money on but from a lifestyle perspective definitely better for me, my wife, and kids.

Thanks again for your help and I may well be on here again with questions once I have visited Qatar for my next round of interviews.