esme07

Hi everyone, I would really appreciate some advice about housing... we are hoping to move back to the UK in a few months time, probably to Birmingham as my partner's company has an office there. We'll be taking our two cats.

We're unsure about the logistics in terms of finding temporary accommodation and/or a pet-friendly rental... Is it likely we would be able to have a rental lined up for our arrival in the UK? If not, how long would it usually take to secure something?

Unfortunately neither of us has much experience living or working in the UK, as we both left as children. We are both British citizens and my partner will have documentation showing that a job is waiting for him, but I'm worried about needing to pay 6 months rent in advance, as I know others have done.

Any advice would be much appreciated

Bermudashorts

Unless you have somebody that you trust completely available to look at properties, I can't see how you could have something lined up for arrival. I think you would need to put the cats into a cattery for a couple of weeks whilst you sort something out and stay in temporary accommodation yourselves. Or maybe one of you could go on ahead, sort out the rental and then the other follows with the cats?

I haven't rented in UK for a while, but I don't think rentals are thin on the ground and I cannot imagine it would take too long. The cats might put some landlords off but there will be plenty that don't mind either.

Six months rent up front is not the normal thing to do and as you have jobs I cannot see why you would be asked.

MoshiMoshi

If you have a job contract, it's unlikely that you'll have to pay six months' rent up front. It may depend how convincing the employment documentation is: a letter showing intent to hire may not be satisfactory, but a legit signed contract with a clear start date and salary details will probably do it.

Do you have UK bank accounts, and/or know anyone local who, as Bermudashorts said, can view properties for you pre-arrival?

We moved back to the UK with 2 cats, and managed to arrange our London rental before landing, but we'd only been out of the UK for five years.

A friend viewed shortlisted properties for us -- letting agents actually required this, although it's obviously good sense for the tenant, too -- and we gave him permission to collect the keys when it was all signed and paid for.

Using a well-known chain of high street agents rather than a private landlord meant we felt comfortable transferring the money, which is obviously a big step. We still had UK bank accounts, and that helped a lot. Our overseas landlord faxed a reference.

The most important thing was my husband's work contract, though -- without this, I doubt we could've secured anywhere without a large payment, and even then perhaps not until we were in the country.

Lots of listings say 'no pets', but always call, express your interest, and say you have two charming, mild-mannered cats. In most cases, this turned out to be fine, except when there was a restrictive clause in the building's freehold or something. Dogs are more problematic.

If you do plan to use a cattery, double-check the vaccination requirements. It's really tightened up in recent years. Our cats had rabies shots and all the necessary import paperwork, but every cattery we contacted required a further range of certified innoculations. (Which our indoor-only cats don't have.)

If you find an available property after you arrive, the turnaround will usually be at least a week. They do a credit check (more to make sure you don't have any actual issues; I don't think lack of UK credit history is a huge problem, if you have a job), and check your employment details, and generally faff around with the contract and inventory. Most agencies ask for a month up front plus 6 weeks' rent for deposit, although we paid 8 weeks' to reassure our landlady about the cats. Deposits must be registered in a secure scheme, and they have to justify any deductions at the end. Agency fees really vary -- they're supposed to let you know all fees up front, though.

Finally, if you just want to camp out for a while on arrival, quite a few Travellodges take cats! That was always our Plan B. Sounds awful, but these are the joys of pet ownership... Hope this helps. Good luck!

Victor Meldrew

Are you familiar with Birmingham? do you know what area/s you would consider?

There is a very wide variance in the different areas and, unless you have a good knowledge of these, you may end up moving to somewhere you don't like.

Regarding rental, if you want to cut the costs and/or beurocracy, you may want to try spareroom.co.uk where landlords may sometimes be looking for somebody to rent a room in their house to increase income. This has moved on a lot since Mr Rigby and Miss Jones in Rising Damp. Sometimes there will be a self contained area for you to live in the house and/or an en-suite.

We looked once at a townhouse where we would have had the whole of the top floor (2 rooms and a bathroom) for around £450 pcm.

You can find short lets (3 months +) and can extend a month at a time more easily than with a more formal full rental

If you don't know Birmingham that well, I am fairly familiar with it (I live there) and happy to give ideas/opinion on which areas are best suited to your needs.

esme07

That is good to hear And yes a cattery is an option! Unfortunately we don't have anyone nearby who can check out the property for us, so it will probably be better to wait until we are there. Thanks very much for the advice.

esme07

Thank you for all this advice, it's really helpful. And reassuring to hear from others have been through the process successfully!

My partner will have a signed contract before we arrive in the UK, so that's a plus. We don't currently have bank accounts but I have read that HSBC offers them to people overseas who are soon to arrive in the country. We still need to check the details. But hopefully that will help too.

Good tips about calling to ask about pets and offering a few more weeks rent... I'll keep that in mind!

I was relieved when I heard about the TravelLodges - that may be what we end up doing The only thing that worries me is how long to book for... I'm afraid of running out of time because we didn't book a long enough stay to allow us to secure a rental. We may be arriving during the Easter school holidays, so I'm not sure how easy it will be to extend our stay if needed. But fingers crossed it won't be an issue!

Thanks again

esme07

Hi Victor, we have never been to Birmingham so I’m not familiar with the city at all. I’ve made note of a few places people have recommended (Moseley, Solihull), and others have suggested commuting from Warwickshire. We’ve (briefly) been to Stratford and Warwick and liked both.

I would definitely appreciate advice about areas to seek out (and those to avoid). We’re used to 30-60min daily commutes in Australia so we don’t necessarily need to be right in the city centre. We’d like to live somewhere that is fairly quiet and safe, with good public transport links.

The short lets and spare rooms are great ideas that I hadn’t considered, so thank you!

Victor Meldrew

Hello Esme,

Do you know where your husband's office will be based?

You say you would like somewhere quiet. Do you mean an area which is quiet within Birmingham, or do you mean a rural quieter area outside the perimeter of Birmingham (or both!)?

Are there other areas of England you will visit regularly? The reason I ask is that getting from one end of Birmingham to the other, to get on the motorway can take a while so might be better to base yourself South/North/West/East Birmingham based on this.

I can give you some ideas based on the above

mikelincs

Most Landlords would expect to meet potential tenants BEFORE renting, we were fortunate when we moved back because we moved to the area we had moved from and rented through the same people who had sold our house when we moved away, so we did have some history with them, even then we had to pay 6 months up front, and we had only been away for 5 years.

Victor Meldrew

Some landlords may be willing to have a Sype meeting?

ottotheboar

In twenty plus years of renting out property I have never met a perspective tenant. The whole process has been handled by the letting agents.

The large high street chains have web sites enabling you to get an idea of price and availability in the are you plan to relocate to.

mikelincs

What I was saying in post #9 was that Landlords, or their letting agent, would want to meed the prospective renters. I realise that not all Landlords are in the country, and, in fact, the first property we rented on return to the UK was owned by someone living outside the UK, but we did have to see the agents before final agreement.

Celticspirit

When I moved back last September, my brother looked at the property and I had a FaceTime interview with the landlord. There was much interest the property as its within walking distance to Queens University, especially from profs wanting to be close. I also showed him the two little dogs. I did offer to pay 6 months in advance (my choice). Paid dog deposit also. It was at least the 15th property my brother had checked out.
My daughter and her husband moved from NYC to Stratford upon Avon last July. He has a great job with RSC and they have four cats. They found it very difficult to find accommodation with the cats, but eventually found a four story townhouse.
I must say, as animal crazy as the Brits appear to be, they are not at all accommodating when it comes to pets for the most part.

ottotheboar

The issue in my opinion is with the letting agents in a market where there is a high demand for rentals they do not need to work very hard to find tenants.
I would imagine if a property had been vacant for a few months they would be all too eager to ask the landlord if they would allow pets.

mikelincs

The problem seems to be the fear that the animals may/will damage the property, carpets, doors etc. and perhaps the deposit would not cover costs if there is a lot of damage.