Scatlett1974

Hello All

I am sure this has possibly been discussed but I will ask for advice nonetheless…. I am really struggling with finding a rental property. I cannot open a bank account, purchase a car etc until I have an address ! The agents (if they bother to respond to me) as soon as they hear my accent come up with a reason not to show me a property - yesterday it was because of a 3 year rental term etc

I am more than willing to pay rent upfront for 6 months, own my business but cannot seek to get a credit score (although having one from Canada would be no problem)

Any suggestions or recommendations would be terrific, the Airbnb I have until January but I cannot use those places for an address. A bit frustrated that I am a UK citizen trying to figure this all out without too much luck

Thanks everyone !

Helen1964

This very issue came up in a thread just last week.
One forum member - Durham Lad - said he'd been able to sign up with a GP without a utlity bill but that everything else had in fact required utility bills.

This won't solve your problem with finding a long-term rental but do you by any chance have a family member who would let you put your name on, say, their electricity bill for a while? So you can at least open a bank account and buy, register and insure a car?

The only other (admittedly faint) possibility I can think of is long winter lets. A regular contributor to this forum called Pistol Pete used to do these in the Dorset area and I'm pretty sure he said at the time (a couple of years ago, mind) that the advantage was that you could get utiliity bills.

Which part of the country are you in?
Re. your accent, maybe dress up smart and go and vist the letting agencies in person?

I think this problem that you're experiencing - ie can't get a long-term rental and therefore can't get utility bills to enable you to start your new life - is going to become increasingly common. |It's worrying.

Helen1964

I just found the relevant bit from Pistol Pete's old post (2020):

In Dorset, one has an ideal start-up arrangement coming in from overseas whereby 'going in' in say October or November, there is good range of RENTAL properties on Winter let over a period from 20 weeks to six months to test areas for a longer term commitment. Because these properties are holiday lets in season, they come full-loaded apart from bed linen and towels, so include cutlery and crockery, pots and pans, and tv.

The rents are low off-season but they are proper leases so provide a start to gaining credit for council tax, letting, and utilities. The winter let lease is likely to be cash upfront until credit is established with the aqent. BTW, in passing, Wessex Water is expensive at approx 400 per annum metered for a couple. Our council tax for a three bed property in Weymouth & Portland (valued at approx 275,000) is now around 1,900 pounds.

durham_lad

I wish I knew how to help. We had no credit score when we were returning from the USA but did have a UK bank account that we could use to send money from. We managed to rent a place from the USA and was able to pay 6 months up front. For proof of income the renting agent accepted pdf copies of my pension statements of US dollars going into my US bank. We went through this process twice, once in 2011 when we just wanted somewhere for 7 months as a trial run on moving back, then again in 2016 when we did move back. In both cases it was a 3-bed unfurnished house we rented that we found through Rightmove.com

tdrinker

Re bank account - do you have a UK driving licence that you could update the address on and use as proof of address to open a bank account? Otherwise, I believe digital banks (Starling, Monzo, Revolut) will open an account without proof of address. It may be worth asking the Citizen's Advice Bureau or an immigration lawyer - there must be lots of immigrants coming to the UK, starting work and needing a bank account to deposit their salary before they are settled into long-term accommodation, so it must be possible and they may know how.

I've looked at the list of proof of address documents required to open a bank account. They include "HMRC documentation (PAYE Coding Notice/Tax Notification/Self-Assessment/Statement of Account/NI contributions bill) valid for the current tax year issued by Job Centre Plus dated within the last 3 months." Would you have or can you get this as you have your own business?

Lion in Winter

As a related question, I have a Wise account (formerly Transferwise) and that does provide a sort code, BAN number etc.

Will this be of any use in establishing anything in the UK?

durham_lad

I think it only establishes the ability to easily pay in £s. Even a letter from a bank to an address does not prove a person is resident at that address.

Helen1964

I’m curious to know whether there’s some way of knowing which parts of the country are particularly badly affected by the shortage of long-term rentals. I think it’s going to become a major issue for people planning to move back. Remember the lady last Spring, who said she’d been stuck in an Airbnb in Devon for months? Shortages in Devon and the London area don’t surprise me but this autumn my tenants in Northern Ireland moved out and even before I’d advertised the house online, we were getting enquiries. It rented straightaway. There’s hardly anything available.

If you had some way of knowing in advance which areas were particularly problematic, you could consider moving initially to an area you’d hadn’t previously thought of, just to get settled.

I’m sensing a business opportunity here. Or an unconventional way to tackle the problem of fuel poverty. Perhaps aspiring returnees to the UK could offer to take over people’s electricity/gas accounts for the winter, in return for getting their name on a utility bill...

tdrinker

I don't understand the shortage of rental units. Covid has reduced visitors, so (reportedly) many Airbnb's have been offered to long-term rent instead. This suggests supply increased, yet there's a shortage. Or higher demand. The ban on evictions during covid may have reduced the supply, but also demand as people were staying put so should balance out. If landlords are selling and reducing the supply (not sure), than the people buying are removed from the rental demand. For certain markets, e.g. city centre flats, demand reduced during covid as people moved back in with their parents and are now looking to rent again, so rents fell and are now increasing. But generally, why is the market out of balance?

vh3

Thanks to this forum we managed to cobble together enough information to survive without credit. We opened a HSBC UK bank account from Canada which companies in the UK love. We met the right folks at 3 mobile so signed us up with a mobile phone on day 1 (thank you Edinburgh). Our local health centre let us join with proof of passport and birth certificate. They accepted our Airbnb address. Yes, we cannot get a credit card yet and we still have the joys of trying to get utilities and internet when we move into our new home in January but so far we have managed. I guess our expectations were low so everything has been a bonus. Oh, and we used Aviva car insurance which recognised our no claims discount, again advice from this forum. Maybe we are lucky as we live in an area where they are used to people coming here (RAF base) but we are just going with the flow right now.

durham_lad

That sounds like great progress. Well done.

mica painter

Hello, I'm sorry you're struggling with this. We are going through the same difficulty and have pets which is proving almost impossible to even get viewings! Luckily we're not tied to any particular area so we can search further afield.
We're currently paying for a property hunter to help us from the recommendations of other expats moving back with pets. He's called Mark and even though he charges a fee, it is in proportion to what you can afford. He's very friendly and hard working and I feel very hopeful now as he's found us a couple of lovely properties for viewings. I think estate agents can hear the fear in my voice when I call and he's got experience and can get on their level. Here's his website in case you want to try: Forbury Services | The Relocation and Property Search Specialists (I hope I'm allowed to share this?

DharmeshSonigra

Believe this might help -If you need a UK bank account as soon as possible, opening an account with a challenger/digital bank usually takes just a few minutes. You’ll still usually need proof of identity (such as a passport or driving licence) to open a bank account, but some challenger banks don’t require proof of address.
Banks that don’t (normally) ask for a proof of address

• Starling Bank. A UK-based digital bank that lets you set up an account from your phone.
• Revolut. A UK current account set up on your phone that allows you to hold multiple currencies.
• Monese. A digital-only account in the UK that you can set up on your phone and comes with a euro account included.
• Monzo. The UK’s most popular digital bank, where you can set up an account from your phone.