So what does everyone do?
We could stay with family or friends on our return but don't wish to be beholden to anyone. I think we'll be quite stressed with the move and it would be good to have our own space.
Renting from afar doesn't seem a great idea as I'd want to view a place and it's surroundings first.
Air B'n'B??

Given that we are going one way, I'm also wondering about travel insurance and possibly contents insurance for our arrival? I believe that getting one way travel insurance can be a challenge.

Thanks for any help. Sorry for all the questions.

We booked an Airbnb which worked out excellent.

We're planning on AirB'n'B because we don't want to have to buy a load of furniture to use in a rental when we'll have shipped all ours, and also we think that after paying rent+council tax if we rented, we won't be any worse off. Plus we won't have to pay a deposit, and we'll be free to move around whilst we decide on an area to buy in.

We managed to book an unfurnished rental house from afar then stayed with friends for 2 weeks while we furnished it.

That’s basically our plan too. But I wonder whether not having utility bills to show residence is going to create difficulties when it comes to opening bank accounts, registering with a GP, buying, taxing & insuring a car, etc.

To do those things we didn’t need proof of address. Other things like opening a bank account do need proof of address, utility bills, council tax etc.

Hi Durham Lad
Hope you’re well.
That’s reassuring as regards taxing/insuring a car.
I think you might have been lucky with your GP. Or maybe things have tightened up recently. My best mate returned to Northern Ireland from Japan last year and had to show a utility bill to get registered with her local GP. Maybe it varies from practice to practice.

That's got me thinking a bit because we aren't planning to bring all our furniture back. Much of it is knackered like us 🤣. Lots of books and stuff I think.......must make a list of what we actually want to return with. But will have to put our stuff into storage for a while until we have firmer plans.
I'm trying to remain excited and not scared s***less by it all !

Phew! Still have our UK bank account, assuming they don't close it in the next year.

Our good pals did this at the beginning of 2020. Did not need to show anything.

We had hired a car for 2 weeks but within a week found a second hand one which we paid for and insured while staying at our friends.

I’m sure it varies by County and town but the NHS registration was within a couple of days of arriving. We had our 30 year old NHS cards which did not have a valid number and the surgery could not find any records so we had to register afresh and all we needed was our passports and address of the rented house we had yet to move into, no proof needed. I got a GP appointment within days to issue a repeat prescription for the pills I take, I just turned up with my latest bottle and she said “Yes, that is what we prescribe for that condition”

We already had our old bank account but we did need utility bills to change our address plus passports to prove id. The teller also said that my signature was nothing like they had on record and had me sign a new signature card.

How does the Air bnb work when making the visa application? When filling in the application one doesn’t know when the vignette will be granted and when one will be able to jump on a plane especially when the processing times are many months. Are the Home Office okay with an Air bnb and if dates don’t work out do people just cancel and book another one? Do you just pick a possible week in the future?

I also am confused on the matter of finding a place to live for the first few months in England. My main question is: How long do they want us to have accommodations for? My plan was to have an AirBNB lined up/paid for for 2 months and while living there, get a rental for the next 6 months. During those 6 months we can look for a flat to buy. Does this seem like a reasonable plan and will 2 months of accommodations satisfy the person going through out visa application? Thanks.

Hopefully someone with firsthand experience will be along soon to answer your question about the visa but in the meantime, can I just make a suggestion on another subject. Consider getting your parents to put your names - temporarily - on a couple of their utility bills. One for yourself and one for your partner. I know Durham Lad had no problem a few years ago registering with a GP without them but when I checked recently with my mum's practice they told me they would require proof of address in the form of a utility bill.

I called her electricity company to see whether that would be possible and they assured me it was a straightforward procedure.

Thanks, I'm sure they'd be willing to do that to help us.