We'll tell him that we are meeting 30 mins later than we really are

Excellent. See you all at Norwich (Catholic) Cathedral for scones in March xxxxx

If it were me I would sell my flat in France first and then move to the UK, if Norfolk is your county of choice then head there, worse case a hotel but depending on when you move holidays let’s or Air B&B , I would not like to be looking around Norfolk (a lovely quiet county) from NI believe me I have seen most of England/Wales looking at areas to move and it’s not easy to get the “gist” of a place on a short break, you can “get” distracted as well by “going back” in your case NI by life,family and familiarity and never make the move to Norfolk sometimes that works out for the best but most times it’s just because easier. Good luck

Thanks Brits. You’re thinking along the same lines as my husband.

I just need to be sure that, once we’ve sold & vacated the French flat, we will actually be able to secure a decent longterm rental in Norfolk.
My concern is that we could end up in an Airbnb for months with all our stuff in storage and no permanent address so no way, for example, to buy, register & insure a car in the UK.

Our French car insurance will be void as soon as we no longer have a French address.
So we literally would be arriving with suitcases and taking a train from Stansted and then taxi to an Airbnb.

As suggested, I’ll raise the subject of longterm rentals with estate agents when we go to view houses to buy in March. If I keep it casual, maybe I’ll get honest answers from them. But if it transpires there are going to be 30 or so prospective renters in front of us in the queue for every property that takes our interest, then I’m afraid that just won’t work.
The private rental market also seems terribly cutthroat these days. So many extra charges that never used to exist.

What did you do yourself when you moved back? If you don’t mind me asking.

When we moved back in 2016 from the USA we used Rightmove to look for rentals and managed to find one that way. We had to put up 3 months rent in advance, though I've heard since that 6 months may be required. In 2011 we rented a house for 7 months, which we also found through Rightmove. Unfurnished of course and in both cases we stayed with friends for a week or so until we had bought enough furniture to move in, and in the case of the 2011 house we donated the furniture back to the shops at the end of our stay.

Back in the old days, before Airbnb, the holiday cottage business was dominated by regional (and some national) holiday cottage companies that provided a service for property owners - they basically encouraged cottage or flat owners to register with them, they inspected the property & mandated a list of essential minimum standards (kitchen has to have a toaster and electric kettle etc etc.). So, if you wanted to rent, there was a good website to choose from and you could be sure the place was up to a certain standard. In Norfolk, there’s a couple of such agencies - Norfolk country cottages being one. Anyway, one of the really useful things they did was offer long lets in the winter. Much cheaper, per week, than during the holiday season. These would be for two or three or four months. I did one in Aylsham, Norfolk, back in 2013 or 2014 (?) and it worked out well. (Place was a bit cold, since it was set up for the summer and I was there Jan - Feb!) I don’t know if they still do the winter rentals.

This is one of them... I think there are several.

https://www.norfolkcottages.co.uk/?

Thanks Durham Lad. I think everything used to be much easier.
The rental market is so tight in places now. Recently our tenant in N Ireland moved out and before the property even went online we were bombarded by inquiries.

Thanks Robin. I had wondered about winter lets. There used to be a guy on here called Pistol Pete who regularly used them. The great thing was you had utility bills with them, and therefore a permanent address.

I will check to see if anyone still offers this.

It was certainly easier when our son moved back in 2017 and our daughter in 2022. In both cases they stayed with us for the 3 months it took to find and buy a house.

I just need to persuade my mother to move to Norfolk…..

For some reason I always think of this scene when the subject of Norfolk comes up. What I'll do if we end up living there I have no idea.

Am working my way through the Elly Griffiths novels to get myself in the mood for the saltmarsh.

Maybe once you are settled and your mother “sees” how lovely Norwich is and that Norfolk is a hidden gem she may be over with you in a flash. Norwich castle is having a “facelift” costing millions always a good sign a city is thriving.

That’s probably what my husband’s afraid of!

Great news re the castle, though.

Hi. we moved back from Canada to UK in April this year. We just stayed in Air BnBs. In fact we are still in one. If you book 28 day stays then you get good discounts at most places. We move on each month but we have just 3 suitcases and a dog with us so it’s not bad. It’s a good way to check out a new area. We haven’t registered with a doctors yet but I have read that you can register as a temporary resident with some doctors if you dont have a permanent address yet. We used a family members address for driving licence etc. I will add that it is much better living in the area you want to buy in. Initially we were staying some distance from where we intended to settle. We had to make several long expensive trips across the UK when a house we liked came on the market. Now we are in the area we want to settle it’s so much easier to view properties and go back for second viewings etc. Good luck. I will add I love being home!