Hi DrIng,
I only have anecdotal evidence about hospital accommodation in the UK, and my own experience of living in a nurses home (long story...) for a month or so while working as an intern in Cambridge. One word - grim.
The quality can be pretty variable, but I know of at least one decent complex (much better than what you could get renting privately for a similar sum) attached to a London hospital. As a family, you will absolutely get priority. However, I'm not sure how long you can actually stay in such places - I think in some cases time might be limited. You also have an advantage in that you'll be coming from overseas, so your appliation will be at the top of the pile so the hospital will definitely provide at least temporary accommodation. What it's like will probably vary widely. If you're staying long-term, more than a few years, you'd probably want to rent or buy (at least that's been the experience of doctors I know with families).
Depending on where you'll be in the UK, buying a house might be a good option. However, house prices in London and the South East have skyrocketed, although this isn't neccessarily the case in a lot of parts of the country. The difference in price between an average 2-bed home in Greater London (current estimate ?262,000) and the same house, say, in certain areas of the North East is huge. From the BBC website: "In the first quarter of 2003 the gap between the average price in London and the North was ?135,901." The good news is that the general consensus seems to be (in the short term at least) that house prices are rising, and so buying is a reasonable investment. Check out
http://www.nationwide.co.uk/hpi/ if you're interested.
Hope this is of some help - good luck!
