Moving to Nottingham - Need Advice

Airborne Soldier

I've just gotten a job near Nottingham and I'll be moving over in the next week, so in need of some advice on a few things if anyone can help:

• I've been looking at www.gumtree.co.uk and www.spareroom.co.uk for accom, does anyone know of any other good sites?
  
• For opening up a bank account over there, does anyone know what proof of address you can show them considering you won't have any of the usual docs such as bills etc for your first month?
  
• Also am I right in saying you just need a passport/drivers licence to get your national insurance number? Does it usually take long to get?
  
• For getting a UK sim card, what would people say is the best network over there? And if your phone is locked to an Irish network, i.e. Meteor, can you still use it with a UK network or would you have to get a new phone?
  
• For travelling, is there anything like a leap card over there to save money on bus fare?
  
• And lastly is there anyone on here living in Nottingham? Does there be many Irish over there? Is there much to do there?

who the fug

Read this thread it will answer most of your queries.

bluewhitehoops

www.zoopla.co.uk/Property-to-Rent

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent.html

Captain Graphite

Airborne Soldier wrote: »

I've just gotten a job near Nottingham and I'll be moving over in the next week, so in need of some advice on a few things if anyone can help:

've been looking at www.gumtree.co.uk and www.spareroom.co.uk for accom, does anyone know of any other good sites?

I used http://uk.easyroommate.com/ You sort of advertise yourself and then prospective landlords/housemates find you.

For opening up a bank account over there, does anyone know what proof of address you can show them considering you won't have any of the usual docs such as bills etc for your first month?

Think you can open a basic bank account but not a "proper" one until you have adequate proof of address. Guess Google would tell you more about this:
http://moneyfacts.co.uk/guides/banking/can-you-open-an-account-without-proof-of-address/

For getting a UK sim card, what would people say is the best network over there? And if your phone is locked to an Irish network, i.e. Meteor, can you still use it with a UK network or would you have to get a new phone?

Best network, in terms of coverage, is probably O2. I was more concerned about value for money and I went with 3 because they have a good monthly pay-as-you-go deal that has unlimited data. Unfortunately the signal isn't great sometimes. It hasn't been bad enough for me to consider changing network though.

As for phone being locked, you'd probably need to ring up Meteor and ask them.

For travelling, is there anything like a leap card over there to save money on bus fare?

There's the MANGO card for Trent Barton buses: https://www.trentbarton.co.uk/fares-and-tickets/mango

That'd only be worth getting if you're using Trent-Barton buses a lot though. I generally don't use public transport that often (walking distance from university) so I'm not sure if there's an equivalent of it for trains or any of the other bus companies.

And lastly is there anyone on here living in Nottingham? Does there be many Irish over there? Is there much to do there?
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I'm living in Beeston (which is its own town administratively but is practically a suburb of the city) at the moment and it's grand. Bit of a sleepy area but pleasant enough in its own way. Has a big Tesco, which is handy!

The city centre is quite nice; any time I've ventured in there it seems to have a good atmosphere and isn't too chavvy! Nottingham's apparently renowned for gun crime but I'm pretty sure that's restricted to a few "problem" areas that you're unlikely to be going to anyway. Nightlife is pretty good, plenty of bars and pubs around the place. Not sure how many Irish; there's at least one anyway! :pac: