ah207

For those of you who moved back to the UK without having secured a job first - how easy/difficult was to find short term (6-12 months) rental accommodation ? I presume accommodation agencies and private landlords will not be too keen on taking on unemployed tenants. But alas, for many jobs/interviews - you need to be in the country first - and that means looking for a short term let, or else trying your luck with friends/relatives.

Any personal experiences - or tips ?

Perth

From what I understand, you would most probably manage to secure a 6 month lease if you paid it all upfront. Otherwise, maybe Airbnb?

benhila

We moved into an airbnb for the first 10 weeks; this sorts us out to the end of Sept, when our furniture are due to arrive from Sydney. Meanwhile we rented a flat (moving-in end of Sept) for 12 months, paying 6 months upfront and providing tons of supporting documentation. We had references from our landlord/agent in Sydney, references and payslips from previous employers, character references, bank account statements, copies of British and/or EU passports etc. The more documents the better. You may be asked to provide a name of a guarantor, who resides in the UK and is willing to commit to paying your rent if you default. If you do not have family in the UK or very good (and well-off) friends, this could be a problem. At the moment it is a renters market (the property market is very quiet post Brexit) so this may help.

Pulaski

ah207

wow - seems like the agencies really do ask for a lot of documentation. Scouring around on the various popular rentals websites, a lot of them do specify that you must be in full time work (professional).

I may have the option of staying with relatives in the first instance - just to get back into things after almost 10 years of being away. Once the job situation gets sorted (assuming I haven't already sorted something out by the time I leave) then it should be slightly easier to find rented accommodation - though my long term ism will be to buy. Eventually. All in the fullness of time I think.

Sparkleydiva

I have had no issues with having a job offer in writing detailing salary and hadn't actually started work. Lots of paperwork though and many use the landlord hub, who are unnecessary and annoying