Crag Rat

Hello!

New to the forum...very glad to join. I'm a British / United States dual-citizen who's never lived in the UK, but am relocating from the USA very soon. This means I'll be facing the house letting / bank account issue: how and which comes first? I have employment arranged, a letter from the employer, and a UK passport, but all of my finances are in US banks. Bank of America has some sort of relationship with Barclays, but not really certain if this helps me in any way. I'm certain a letting agent will want to see employment AND a UK bank account; I'm certain a bank would like to see a UK address. I have no family left in the UK anymore, although plenty of friends (however, I do take care of matters like this by myself...prevents friendships from becoming otherwise).

What advice can you give? How have you dealt with it, if you have?

Thanks!

Crag Rat

Pulaski

OR lots of cash - IOW be prepared to make additional deposit/ prepayment of several months rent.

ABCeasyas123

I emailed a Countrywide Estate Agent regarding this exact question the other day because I have the same concern. Here was the reply "As far as I know you can still secure a rental without a UK bank account, the overseas references tend to be slightly easier due to the amount of information we need. I deal with lots of international clients and tend to be fine"

I'm not sure I 100% trust that it will be smooth sailing and assume there'll be some kind of snag in getting approved for a rental but this was at least a little reassuring so I thought I'd pass it along in case it helps you!

Crag Rat

"lots of cash...." Yes, already planned on that!

Thanks!

Crag Rat

ABCeasyas123: Thank you....yes, something to ponder and investigate. I also have stellar references (hard copies with contact info) from everyone I've ever rented from, so I'm hoping that'll help, too.

Thanks!

spouse of scouse

I don't think you'll have a problem with securing a rental property. Your UK passport will take care of the 'Right to Rent' legislation. You have a contract of UK employment plus a letter from your UK employer, so that's your ability to pay the rent sorted out. New arrivals aren't expected to have a permanent UK address, just provide the letting agent with the address of your temporary accommodation. Provide your latest bank statement from your US bank (make sure it has your name on it), with the explanation that you'll be opening a UK bank account as soon as you get a permanent address. Be prepared to pay up to 6 months rent in advance (although not all letting agents will require that), and I think you're good to go. Best of luck.

LBelyk

Yikes, 6 months up front, really? I'm a Canadian relocating to the UK for the first time, the original question is something I've been worrying over. Since we won't have UK passports, will we still be okay to rent without a bank account? We will have visas of course, and can provide my husband's contract for the job we're moving for. But should we really bring multiple thousands of pounds in cash to cover the rental deposit (even if it's not 6 months, we have to move to London so it will still be multiple thousands)? It feels strange to carry around that much money.
And if we don't do cash, does anyone have experience using something like TransferWise? Or, can we open a bank account before getting a permanent address?
We have moved abroad before, but we've always found and secured a place online, which meant we had access to all our funds for the deposits. This time we're trying out the whole get there first then see places thing.
Thanks in advance!

scot47

A suitcase full of used £20 notes ?

Pulaski

I would strongly advise against carrying significant quantities of cash internationally, for several reasons. I have generally understood that when advised to "pay cash" for rent, it is more general advice that you need means to transfer value to the landlord, that gives the landlord confidence, so not a cheque, rather than that you need a fist full of high value banknotes. That might mean, for example, transferring funds directly to the landlord, or using a debit or credit card to pay, though obviously there will be a fee for that in most cases if you're using a non-UK card.

LBelyk

the extra suitcase on the flight will cost more than the money in it!

LBelyk

Thank you for bringing me back to reality here. We don't do bank transfers as a regular thing here in Canada, I'm aware of them as a useful thing from when we lived in the Netherlands, but we had a bank account there by the time we started using that method. How would it work without a bank account?

MidAtlantic

As one example, you could use Transferwise and make the payment direct to the landlord. You would need to set up an account with Transferwise first.
The way it works is you transfer money from your US bank account to Transferwise, they convert it to GBP then send that to wherever you tell them to send it - in this case the landlord.

durham_lad

LBelyk

Thank you MidAtlantic and durham_lad ! This makes things sound much easier.

illepDrype

We will need to open a bank account soon, so all this information is really helpful. Thanks
Are all the banks on Bonaire pretty similar in terms of services provided, interest rates etc? Or in other words - would you recommend any particular bank?
Thanks
Andy