MidAtlantic

ahhhh this thread is clearly labelled UK Credit History I was thinking US

M0zza

Just referring to my own experience really.

Got mortgage no problem. Store and credit cards out of the question.

Sparkleydiva

For renting, if one of you has a job offer in writing that will cover the rent payments, you dont need to pay six months up front. I did that last year. I think the annual salary gross has to be 30 x monthly rent.

Abercrombie123

I have a national insurance number (as I'm British) - do they expire at all I wonder?!

Jerseygirl

No.

CAH58

My hubby returned to UK ahead of me, he was struggling to get a rental that accepts pets. Eventually we found one, but somebody else turned up at the viewing and the gave him preference! She then took my husband to a 2 bed terraced, no front garden and only a yard at the back! He wasn't happy but getting desperate as it was harder than we thought getting a rental (probably harder because we have the dog). We had to pay almost £400 in 'credit checks' and application. In the end, we saw one for sale we liked, my hubby came to view it and offered to purchase. He had been to the bank and was offered a mortgage 'in principle'. The house was vacant, the owner lives 2 doors away, and we cheekily asked if we could rent it until mortgage was sorted. He agreed!

verystormy

Its funny. We returned last year, were looking at some of the most desirable / hard to get places in the UK - Windsor, Ascot Sunningdale. We have a dog and had no problem. In fact the only problem we had was too much choice and had arguments about which to go for. Wasn't asked for any thing additional other than the normal bond and one months rent in advance. Oh, I think we had to pay an extra £200 in bond for the dog.

Six months later we moved to Scotland and found a perfect place on line. Tiny VERY sought after village (it is picture postcard and a conservation village surrounded by stunning countryside but only 18 miles from Glasgow) again, no issue.

Novocastrian

Before I arrived back in the UK from Canada in 2015, I opened an HSBC Canada account and, through them, an HSBC-UK account using a temporary UK address (my FIL's). My Canada credit rating was recognised by HSBC-UK and I got an HSBC Mastercard with £5000 limit before arrival.

Being retired, I paid 3 months rent upfront plus 1 month security deposit on a flat and later paid cash to buy a nicer one where, after research, we had chosen to live. I also paid cash for a "nearly new" car.

I realise that not all of this will be possible for everyone, but I recommend the HSBC bit.

CAH58

It's crazy how agents vary from town to town isn't it? Almost every time I found a house online and emailed to the hubby, it had either already been taken OR didn't accept pets. Some agents charged much less for their credit checks and applications, so I suppose shop around. Luckily we found the house we want to buy and it was vacant. We put the usual bond down and 1 months rent upfront, then hopefully soon it will be ours!

BEVS

So if I understand correctly.
When one returns to the UK one has no credit rating.

HSBC is a bank which is prepared to offer a credit card alongside a bank account assuming, I suppose , one is depositing funds into it.

A pay as you go mobile is another way to kick start a rating.

1 - Would any credit rating one has in another country (Canada/NZ/Oz) be taken into consideration. When we arrived in NZ our rating int he UK counted for nothing.

2 - If one has kept a UK bank account would that help with a credit rating? I rather think there needs to be some form of activity , buying on the never never , to produce a credit rating.

Perth

Addressing the credit card issue: HSBC were not willing to extend us a credit card until 6 months of residency, despite the fact that we have Premier accounts (with credit cards) in the USA, and transferred a large sum of money into the newly opened UK account.

Novocastrian

YMMV I guess.