The catch 22 of finding a job and house in England.

Alliandre

So I know when apartment hunting here that most landlords/estate agents what proof of a job, so they know you can pay your rent. But while I do intend to try and have a job secured before moving to England, there is a chance that I won't be able to get a job until after I move over. I have enough money saved to survive for a couple of months while looking for a job. But will a landlord accept a bank statement instead of a letter from an employer as proof that I can pay rent? I also have good references from previous landlords.

Fysh

It depends on the landlord, to be honest.

When we moved over, we got ourselves set up with 6 weeks or so in short-term accommodation. During that time we were sorting out jobs and permanent accommodation, and it was amazing how much easier being there made things - particularly given the number of estate agencies that were woeful in terms of matching what you'd told them you were interested in viewing.

Good references from previous landlords will never hurt, either.

Overall, it's a good idea to have a couple of bank statements showing that you've got enough money to live on. If you can get set up with short-term accommodation for a month or two, you can get your Irish bank to use your temporary UK address and reissue your most recent statement to use as proof of address and proof that you've got money to your name.

Dr.Giggles

My landlord just wanted bank statements, it really does depend on the landlord. I found a lot of places I looked at really it was just the tenants dealing with everything and they only wanted bank statements too, some wanted nothing (I suggest finding a place where the tenants have some sort of relationship with their landlord though..preferably a good relationship :P)

I stayed in short term when I moved over, they just wanted the rent didn't have to give proof of anything. I think short term to start with is best as then you are not panicking, it takes the pressure off and it gives you time to find a job and to find a good place to live, trust me you do not want to rush into it, remember you will probably be in a lease and you don't want to get stuck in a crap area with psycho housemates.

JoeAwsome

It would be best just to look for a room, lots of house/flat shares in London, its less risky to a landlord.

And don't go through estate agents/management companys, they usually want a lot, references, statements, lots of ID etc/

r3nu4l

JoeAwsome wrote: »

It would be best just to look for a room, lots of house/flat shares in London, its less risky to a landlord.

And don't go through estate agents/management companys, they usually want a lot, references, statements, lots of ID etc/

+1

When I moved over the agents also wanted four months rent up front!! :eek:

I eventually bought a copy of a local paper (Cambridge evening news) and found an apartment that way. The landlady wanted references and bank statements.

Alliandre

Thanks for the replies. I was actually hoping to avoid short term accomadation as I don't want an additional move. I was planning on heading over for a few days and setting up apointments with various agents/landlords if possible and hopefully get something. If I can't find anything that way then I guess I'll have to go down the short term accomadation route though.

keane2097

Apologies for the bump but starting a new thread is probably unnecessary.

r3nu4l wrote: »

+1

When I moved over the agents also wanted four months rent up front!! :eek:

I eventually bought a copy of a local paper (Cambridge evening news) and found an apartment that way. The landlady wanted references and bank statements.

You live in Cambridge yeah? Would you recommend it as a place to live?

r3nu4l

It depends on what you want in life

Cambridge is a really beautiful small city. It's a very small city but a great place to live. It has good rail links with London (45 mins on the fast train to King's Cross and 1h 15 min on the fast train to Liverpool street) and good rail links to Stansted airport.

Also the road to Stansted Airport is Dual-carriageway and Motorway all the way

It's full of some really decent pubs but if you're into clubbing then Cambridge is very disappointing (I hate clubbing so Cambridge is full of win for me ) There are two multiplex cinemas, one bowling centre and loads of very good restaurants.

It's very picturesque and the Mill Road area is very good with loads of ethnic food shops, charity shops, swap shops and independent stores. All the major shopping chains have a presence in Cambridge and there's a fantastic library too.

Housing is expensive and renting can be too, if you're moving from Ireland then it's worthwhile looking for property to rent on the Cambridge evening News website or Gumtree for direct rentals from landlords rather than going through estate agents as many of these want one month up front and three months deposit because you don't have an established credit rating in the UK. That can be anything from £2800 upwards depending on the place you are renting.

Feel free to PM me with questions if you're thinking of moving here.

keane2097

r3nu4l wrote: »

It depends on what you want in life

Cambridge is a really beautiful small city. It's a very small city but a great place to live. It has good rail links with London (45 mins on the fast train to King's Cross and 1h 15 min on the fast train to Liverpool street) and good rail links to Stansted airport.

Also the road to Stansted Airport is Dual-carriageway and Motorway all the way

It's full of some really decent pubs but if you're into clubbing then Cambridge is very disappointing (I hate clubbing so Cambridge is full of win for me ) There are two multiplex cinemas, one bowling centre and loads of very good restaurants.

It's very picturesque and the Mill Road area is very good with loads of ethnic food shops, charity shops, swap shops and independent stores. All the major shopping chains have a presence in Cambridge and there's a fantastic library too.

Housing is expensive and renting can be too, if you're moving from Ireland then it's worthwhile looking for property to rent on the Cambridge evening News website or Gumtree for direct rentals from landlords rather than going through estate agents as many of these want one month up front and three months deposit because you don't have an established credit rating in the UK. That can be anything from £2800 upwards depending on the place you are renting.

Feel free to PM me with questions if you're thinking of moving here.

Thanks a lot, I'll get in touch depending on how things develop