Well, I must say you guys are amazing in terms of speed and depth of your answers.
In reply, I would firstly like to say that 3k per year is a small cost, roughly what I would need to pay for keeping a good car in London.
With regards to my location, schools etc. I am staying in Battersea area of London, south from Chelsea. I checked a few local aeroclubs, one in Luton, at Cranfield, one in Brighton (which costs about 8k) and they all look pretty similar. They tend to have different planes though. Any advice where to have a look?