Adequate accommodation - serviced apartments etc?
 

Hello all,

My question relates to adequate the spouse visa accommodation requirement and short-term rented accommodation. Please help me!

We don't have close family to stay with, so need to stay in rented accommodation when we first arrive in the UK (we will swiftly buy a house to live in for the long-term).

Being currently non-resident and with no UK credit histories, we've realistically got no chance of obtaining reasonable private-rental accommodation. That leaves us with air bnb, hotels and serviced apartments.

Are any of those options acceptable? How many days would we need to book to make it seem like a sufficiently stable option? 30? 60? More? There are 3 of us, so I believe we need at least 2 bedrooms. In which case, surely a 2 bedroom serviced apartment would be sufficient...? :fingerscrossed:

Thanks in advance! :thumbsup:

Re: Adequate accommodation - serviced apartments etc?
 

Anyone? *crickets*

Any hints or info or anecdotes would be most welcome right about now! :-) We're about GBP 5,500 in the hole on this application (2 visas, 2 NHI's and one very cheeky exchange rate) and feeling pretty desperate that we clear this final hurdle as clean as we realistically can.

Re: Adequate accommodation - serviced apartments etc?
 

Are you applying under savings category?

in my opinion and this is something an experienced immigration agent would advise on- that the main aim is to stop overcrowding in unsuitable accommodation and homelessness. So I would suggest a brief covering letter of your intentions. Certainly many people will not be able to stay with relatives and may have to rent short term.

You will need to book airbnb or a proper holiday let/ serviced apartments and that will be tricky as spouse visas seem to be taking 3 months or more to process and the date you enter as your preferred travel date would have to match the accommodation booking.

So check if you can vary the date without losing money.

You could rent long term without a credit history BUT you will have to pay in full up to the first break clause (which is usually six months) plus 4- 6 weeks deposit which is held by an independent body. Many foreign students in the UK do this. Agents do take credit cards fortunately.

Also when you say you can buy a house, will this be a cash purchase, or mortgaged? If so apart from london hotspots, most purchases in the UK take at least 12 weeks due to people's chains breaking down and slow conveyancing procedures. With a mortgage application you will need at least two salary slips, if not more. When you arrive the British spouse should register on the electoral register where you are living if possible. And both register with a local GP.

This will help later with mortgage application.

Given the length of time to purchase if you can raise funds to pay six months ( AST) assured shorthold tenancy on a years rental contract ( you can usually give two months notice at 4 months and a day)this will be a lot cheaper in the long run than short term accommodation.

you could bring any references from where you live now, or people who know you, this helps.

What area are you moving to?

if there are reputable agents in the area you could contact some and explain the situation. yours is a typical relocation scenario.
Generally people start looking a month to six weeks before renting so that is a timing issue.

I would try and spend 4 weeks in short term and as soon as you arrive try for a longer rental period of one year ( with a break clause) dont advertise the fact you might leave early- not all landlords will give a break clause in year one, but many will.

Then you have plenty of time to purchase. So your covering letter could state your plans and show you will be able to purchase etc.

Re: Adequate accommodation - serviced apartments etc?
 

is one a child? two beds is fine.

Wiltshire council have helpfully set out the government standards:

Is your home overcrowded? - Wiltshire Council

Re: Adequate accommodation - serviced apartments etc?
 

Thank-you so much for all that information, Angie! It's brilliant. :-)

We are going the savings route. I'm the Sponsor, but Mr Gruffalo is the earner (I am currently home with the little Gruffalo). Correct, we are 2 adults and one child. With regards to our housing intentions, we could possibly cash buy but we'd rather obtain a mortgage and buy something a bit more fully formed. We will definitely take your advice re: electoral roll and GPs around enhancing our mortgage prospects.

We'll be moving to the English south-west. I've studied RightMove so hard I feel like I'm there already. ;-)

We already made our application with documentation around a visa-pending job offer and our house-buying additional savings along with a cover letter explaining our intentions to rent a serviced apartments then buy a house. UKVI requested that we forward to them evidence of accommodation.

We've now found a really nice 2 bedroom serviced apartment and booked it for 3 months (it's cancellable, but we are planning to stay there if we are granted visas). That should give us time to secure a decent rental for 6+ further months while we obtain a mortgage and find/settle on a property (I'm hoping to find a nice no-chain house just to avoid the hassle of collapsing chains).

Given the above circumstances, should an initial booking of 3 months suffice in our case?

I'm planning to take your advice and include with the further information a cover letter detailing our accommodation plans along with the following:

1. Our serviced apartment booking confirmation;
2. Photos and specs from the apartment website detailing the size, nature and facilities of the accommodation;
3. Documentation around our additional savings, with which we will fund our initial stay, any deposits on subsequent rental property and later deposit on mortgage. Hopefully this gives UKVI comfort that we can afford the serviced apartment and are capable of following through on our stated plans...and won't become a burden on the state.

Do you think this will be sufficient?

Thanks again Angie. You've been incredibly helpful!

Re: Adequate accommodation - serviced apartments etc?
 

Glad to be of help. I would have thought ( but I am not an expert) , that evidence of three months booking in serviced accommodation is suitable whilst you house hunt and it would be unreasonable not to grant the visa. And all the other points you are including are very good, photos/specs.

Although I worked in relocation, our clients' visas were dealt with by specialists. Most people (mainly intra company transfers) were put in serviced for a month and within that we helped them find long term rentals.

Possibly not to lengthen the letter unduly ( less to read!) you could say 'we will be buying a house and house viewing as soon as we arrive, and can if necessary extend our serviced accommodation'. Register with a couple of well known local agents and mention their names.

As a note, holiday lets and serviced apts (under six months) do not require right to rent checks ( i.e if someone is in uk legally)- so a tourist on a six month visa could rent up to six months if they were given that time on entry. Also in that type of accommodation you do not pay council tax and utility bills.

So you need to set up your bank account asap for proof of address which you will need to register with a solicitor -best to do this in advance of making offers. The GP communication will help too. Get a UK credit card and spend some money and set up a direct debit to pay back minimum amount monthly as this will enhance your credit rating. Not if you pay it all off at once, strangely enough!

Longer term rental does require right to rent checks, but by the time you get to that stage your husband will have a visa. Lots of estate agents get confused about all this by the way.

Just to be cautious, have you spoken to the serviced apartments ( not just on internet) and do pay by credit card.

Good idea to buy something chain free. Will save weeks and months of pain.

Good Luck!

Re: Adequate accommodation - serviced apartments etc?
 

Fantastic, thank-you Angie!

I thought I might also include a few print outs of properties we are considering, if only to indicate that we've really put some realistic thought into the whole thing. The suggestion to register with some agents - hadn't though of that! Will register with a few that represent the sort of houses we've been looking at and include a brief reference to them in my covering letter. I will also include the line about the possibility of extending the serviced apartment if necessary.

I didn't realise that we would need proof of address to register with a solicitor, so cheers for the heads up on that one.

We booked the serviced apartment with a credit card and we pay on arrival. I'll give them a call to confirm the booking and make sure everything sounds legit.

Thanks again for all of that excellent information. It's going to save us a lot of time and heartache. This international relocation business always seems a lot easier when other people are doing it. ;-)

Re: Adequate accommodation - serviced apartments etc?
 

I do not think you need to send any properties, might be too much paper.

They want to satisfy the rule that you have accommodation to go to on arrival.

so I would just ensure you have some good paperwork/receipt for your serviced apt booking, and make that is the first topic in the covering letter
with the accommodation details, and a phone number if they wanted to ring the apts and check you are booked in.(though I doubt they will)
Maybe get the name of whoever you speak to to confirm the booking.

as you are going the savings route you are probably in the best category in terms of showing financial security.

these days you need proof of address and identity for most things.. called KYC ( know your client) due to security and money laundering legislation. you can bring evidence with you of your current address where you live now as a tie in.

Re: Adequate accommodation - serviced apartments etc?
 

That's a good point. It's actually 5 pages per property. I'll probably just annoy the UKVI officer and distract from the original point of the response.

I'll get contact details for the serviced apartment and include with the response for UKVI's information.

Thanks again Angie, you've been brilliant. Now, for the waiting and fingers crossed it all goes through... :-)

Re: Adequate accommodation - serviced apartments etc?
 

Just an update:

We received the visas. With prospective accommodation! Thanks again Angie for your valuable help!! :-)

Re: Adequate accommodation - serviced apartments etc?
 

Glad to hear you were successful!

Good luck with the house hunting.

Re: Adequate accommodation - serviced apartments etc?
 

Hi angie, sorry I am new to the whole forum thing.... You sent me a direct message however unable to read it or reply to you because I havent posted 3 times... Is there another way for you to contact me?

Re: Adequate accommodation - serviced apartments etc?
 

We asked that discussions in the Immigration forums are not done via Private Message or email. It is best if they are posted in the thread...that way any misinformation given can be corrected. Thanks.

Re: Adequate accommodation - serviced apartments etc?
 

I sent it PM as I do not think the forum approves of suggesting professionals to assist in visa applications as it may be construed as 'advertising' They usually suggest that you ask the members to help you.

if they say I can post a suggestion publicly I will do so.

Re: Adequate accommodation - serviced apartments etc?
 

yes thanks, I see what you mean... sorry
I have replied to the OP why I sent it PM. If it is ok with the rules I can make the suggestion on the thread.