Moving To/Living In London Megathread - ALL QUESTIONS TO GO HERE

chancer12

woof im a dog wrote: »

id say your son would be grand even if he hasnt worked in a bar before

i had no experience working in pubs but managed to get a job in one and worked there till i found a job a bit more similar to what i did in college

thanks, that's encouraging. Am anxious about him moving as he's going on his own and needs to start earning v quickly. are there agencies he should register with or just keep an eye on the jobs websites?

Jamey

djpbarry wrote: »

So we're talking exclusively about people who have yet to secure a job here? Because to be honest, that's fair enough. There's absolutely no way myself and the missus would let out our place in Dublin to someone without a job unless they had substantial cash reserves.

Nope. I've been in a job here nearly 4 months and my girlfriend has been working for the NHS for nearly 6 months and we were still asked for UK based guarantors.

chancer12

Just one last thing, what kind of insurance should he get before travelling? If I book a 3 month holiday insurance is this cancelled when he begins work. Just want to cover the options in case he's mugged in the first week and has everything stolen

flushje

Hey folks. I am moving over to London to my gf in late August. She is moving out of her current home and we will be moving in together.

Obviously, I want to be able to move straight into a place when I get over there. Would there be a problem with her going to the viewings alone and moving in without me present? Or would all rented places require the two of you there?

Thanks.

LadyMayBelle

flushje wrote: »

Hey folks. I am moving over to London to my gf in late August. She is moving out of her current home and we will be moving in together.

Obviously, I want to be able to move straight into a place when I get over there. Would there be a problem with her going to the viewings alone and moving in without me present? Or would all rented places require the two of you there?

Thanks.

They will likely need your ID and signature if both of ye are going to be on the lease..

ahtfulal84

I'm looking for a one bedroom flat in next couple of months with a budget of £900 per month including bills if possible. Is gumtree the best place to look? Or does anyone contact letting agencies? Currently in West London with relatives but really want my own space. Would be interested in west, central or north. And don't want a studio flat.

djpbarry

ahtfulal84 wrote: »

I'm looking for a one bedroom flat in next couple of months with a budget of £900 per month including bills if possible.
...
Would be interested in west, central or north. And don't want a studio flat.

There's absolutely no way you'll get a one-bed flat in central London on that kind of budget. To be honest, you'll be hard-pressed to find one anywhere within a reasonable commute of central London.

enda1

Would there not be some?

On a simple rightmove search there are some for £700pcm. I think you'll need to leave about £200 to cover bills.

edit: On further looking, they're mostly flatshares or studios. Could be difficult alright.

djpbarry

enda1 wrote: »

On further looking, they're mostly flatshares or studios. Could be difficult alright.

And I doubt they're very nice studios at that. I've a friend living in quite a nice little studio in Kennington and she's paying considerably more than £900 per month.

Fysh

djpbarry wrote: »

And I doubt they're very nice studios at that. I've a friend living in quite a nice little studio in Kennington and she's paying considerably more than £900 per month.

In my experience nice studios seem to be within £100 of the going rent for a 1-room place. Which, given that a lot of 1-room places are budgeted with a cohabiting couple in mind rather than a single person...

brónaim cád??

Hi,

I'm moving to London next week. I have the physical Oyster card but I don't really know what ticket to get, the zones and things confuse me.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14416.aspx the list just goes on and on...

I'm living in Charlton, Greenwich (Z3 I think) and working in Southwark near Lambeth (Z2 or 1 not sure). Obviously I'll be travelling to different parts of London and using a mixture of rail, tube, bus and DLR.

Can someone tell me which one to get and how much I'll be paying; it looks for expensive.

83ste

An annual Zones 1-3 Travelcard (£1,424) on your Oyster will work out cheapest. Will cover your daily commute and any additional evening/weekend travelling you do within those zones.

Check if your employer offers an interest-free loan to purchase it - this way you can pay them back £118 per month, saving you nearly £20 per month over buying a monthly ticket for £136.

If you need to travel to somewhere in Zones 4-6, you can just add pay-as-you-go credit to your card at any ticket machine.

Fysh

There's a [url=http://TravelCard page that breaks down the cost of travelling between particular zones and the daily limits that apply, also showing the cost of weekly, monthly and yearly TravelCards. Take a look at the options there and pick the one that best matches your available budget and travel needs. I've updated the FAQ to include this page as well as the FareFinder page.

Feathers

Keep in mind too that if you have a monthly/yearly ticket for any zones (eg. Zone 1–2 ticket), bus travel is covered in every zone as part of it (1–6), including night buses.

djpbarry

brónaim cád?? wrote: »

Hi,

I'm moving to London next week. I have the physical Oyster card but I don't really know what ticket to get, the zones and things confuse me.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14416.aspx the list just goes on and on...

I'm living in Charlton, Greenwich (Z3 I think) and working in Southwark near Lambeth (Z2 or 1 not sure). Obviously I'll be travelling to different parts of London and using a mixture of rail, tube, bus and DLR.

Can someone tell me which one to get and how much I'll be paying; it looks for expensive.

Might be worth investing in a bike? Maybe not right away, but when you've settled in and got your bearings. The savings add up very quickly.

brónaim cád??

I think the actual distance is near about 7miles. Any where I check I have to change at least three times which is annoying. I'll have a look on gumtree

aintgotnomoney

Hi guys

I am moving over to London in the next few weeks and I just have a few questions.

RE: NI Number - how long does it take to get an interview from the time you phone up? Are any of the sites VisaFirst etc any good for helping to obtain an NI number sooner? I read that if i am on emergency tax then i wont get it back until i leave the country is that correct?

RE: Foreign exchange - am i better off changing my money over here or wait until i get over there? In which country would I get a better rate? And would the rate be any different if i was to simply use my irish visa debit card over there?

Many thanks

83ste

aintgotnomoney wrote: »

I read that if i am on emergency tax then i wont get it back until i leave the country is that correct?

Incorrect. You'll get any tax refund due to you once your NI number and tax code are sorted.

I got an NI number within a few days of arranging the interview.

aintgotnomoney

serrity wrote: »

Incorrect. You'll get any tax refund due to you once your NI number and tax code are sorted.

I got an NI number within a few days of arranging the interview.

Thanks Serrity - one more question; when you called to arrange the interview how long were you waiting for a date?

83ste

aintgotnomoney wrote: »

Thanks Serrity - one more question; when you called to arrange the interview how long were you waiting for a date?

They gave me a date when I called up - I was using the Bristol office, though, so London may be busier.

rainbow kirby

I phoned on a Thursday, had the interview Monday, and had my NI number the following Tuesday. July in Camden.

aintgotnomoney

Thanks guys great advice

Forums like these make things a whole lot easier when taking such a big step :rolleyes:

djpbarry

aintgotnomoney wrote: »

RE: Foreign exchange - am i better off changing my money over here or wait until i get over there? In which country would I get a better rate? And would the rate be any different if i was to simply use my irish visa debit card over there?

Some subsidiaries of British banks, such as Ulster Bank for example, have arrangements with their parent companies allowing their customers to use the parent bank's ATM's fee-free (although the exchange rates tend to be poor).

However, you need to set up a bank account anyway, so just do that the first chance you get and then I recommend you use a service like www.currencyfair.com to transfer funds.

token101

djpbarry wrote: »

Some subsidiaries of British banks, such as Ulster Bank for example, have arrangements with their parent companies allowing their customers to use the parent bank's ATM's fee-free (although the exchange rates tend to be poor).

However, you need to set up a bank account anyway, so just do that the first chance you get and then I recommend you use a service like www.currencyfair.com to transfer funds.

Currency Fair is dead handy alright.

Tip for Bank of Ireland customers; if you're drawing money out of your BOI account use a Post Office ATM. There's no cirrus fees (but the exchange rate isn't as good as Currency Fair).

panama

Wasn't sure where to put this but I intend to take my car over to London.

Is it a pain in the arse registering it with the DVLA.

I actually imported it from the Uk a couple of years ago so I'm bringing her back home :P

Just wanted to get an idea of the cost / paperwork involved if anyone can oblige?

Cheers.

enda1

panama wrote: »

Wasn't sure where to put this but I intend to take my car over to London.

Is it a pain in the arse registering it with the DVLA.

I actually imported it from the Uk a couple of years ago so I'm bringing her back home :P

Just wanted to get an idea of the cost / paperwork involved if anyone can oblige?

Cheers.

I know this is not answering your question but...
Would you not just sell it in Ireland where you should get a better rate and buy the equivalent in the UK?
Save the difference in VRT?

83ste

panama wrote: »

Is it a pain in the arse registering it with the DVLA.

Short answer: yes.

Although the fact that it was a UK car means you'll avoid the principal headache involved with bringing an Irish car over here - changing the clocks from km/h to mp/h.

Full details here: https://www.gov.uk/importing-vehicles-into-the-uk/overview

Depending on the value of the vehicle, it may actually be better to try selling it in Ireland and just buying something over here. Used cars in the UK are generally cheaper, better equipped and better mantained than what you'll find in Ireland.

panama

enda1 wrote: »

I know this is not answering your question but...
Would you not just sell it in Ireland where you should get a better rate and buy the equivalent in the UK?
Save the difference in VRT?

Well I'll need it to facilitate the move so hadn't really thought about it.

It's an 03 so probably only worth 1000-1500 euro maybe 2k at most so probably makes more sense to hold on to it for now at least.

panama

serrity wrote: »

Short answer: yes.

Used cars in the UK are generally cheaper, better equipped and better mantained than what you'll find in Ireland.

I know, that's why I bought it there a couple of years ago as I mentioned above.

Thanks for the reply.

ballsymchugh

serrity wrote: »

Short answer: yes.

Although the fact that it was a UK car means you'll avoid the principal headache involved with bringing an Irish car over here - changing the clocks from km/h to mp/h.

i disagree, i did the exact same about 6 months ago (re-imported a car that i had originally brought back to ireland.

you need to get an MOT using the vehicle number, and insure it on the UK plates as they'll be what you will get from the DVLA.
once you have that paperwork, (proof of address, ID, irish registration cert also) it'll take about 15 mins at the DVLA to sort out and tax it.

when i imported my car into ireland, the guy at the revenue office spent more than 15 mins getting the paperwork into nice neat bundles.

ireland is still not a great place to sell a car, especially pre 2008 cars.