That's very good advice.
I know of a young lady coming into the UK this summer, who has taken a job outside London, but plans to live IN London and commute to her job. She's young, wants to be where the action is (understandably!), but I think doesn't yet realise that many evenings and also weekends will be spent working (listen to the voices of experience here! And I can safely say that all of us here, even very experienced teachers, still found the job an incredible amount of work, especially at the start. Anyway, this new teacher unfortunately won't be very well paid, and her take-home income will almost cover just the rent and train fare (not food, etc). But she counts on finding a roommate, which would work out as long as there are never months without a roommate! (What if one leaves and it takes a month to find a replacement? Does she not eat that month? And is there really money to enjoy living in the heart of things, if you spend it all on rent?)
She asked for my advice, so it was, of course, to live near her job (outside of London) and thus save a small fortune on rent, save all that train fare, spare herself hours of cummuting each week, and pay less than half the rent (she's found a place in London for £1,325, utilities included, but I'm not sure about council tax! Gulp!). She could work hard during the week (evenings) to stay caught up on work, then go into London every weekend, and could even stay over with friends (she knows people there). And with all the money she'd save, she could see more than just London -- she and her friends could travel Europe during breaks, etc.
I guess I'm mentioning all of this because I'd liek to think that all of us coming over can not only help each other, but try to set ourselves up for the best chance of success.
Well, we wise old ones will post our advice, and let the new-young ones take it or leave it . . . We've survived a year, and are heading into year two, so we know of what we speak.
Best advice is still to read, read, read, and consider things carefully. |
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Finding flat or houseshares is a good way of keeping down the rent but there are a lot of websites that will try to fleece you out of money.
Community websites like gumtree.com or craigslist.org are a better place to look for and post adverts that are free to reply to.
Don't be put off by the fact that they tend to be split into subsites for only a relatively small selection of UK cities/towns - they're also used to cover listings from the surrounding areas. Other For instance, although King's Lynn is too small a town to have a distinct craigslist or gumtree subsite, relevant adverts can be found listed under Norwich and/or Cambridge. |
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Ok, now that I've moved into my new place here's what I've learned about Estate Agent's fees that might be helpful:
1) When I showed interest in the flat they asked for a "deposit of 176.26 pounds" to hold the flat while they checked out my references. Once my references checked out, that 176.26 pounds became an unrefundable service fee. I was only told that AFTER my references checked out, so be aware...
2) The 1st month's rent and deposit (100 pounds more than 1 month's rent) was due 1 week before keys could be exchanged. I'm sure if I'd pushed this though, they could have bumped up the key exchange a bit since this flat had been empty for a while.
3) I was not permitted to be present during the pre-move in inventory for damages. I'm making an inventory of my own, having a witness sign and mailing it to myself so that it is sealed and dated just in case. I haven't even been offered the opportunity to SEE this pre-move inventory.
4) If I want copies of the contract, there's a 25pound copying fee...ouch. I assume, but am not sure this is true, that I would also get a copy of the pre-move inventory with that fee.
5) There will be 50pound contract renewal fee in 6months.
6) There's a 25pound key replacement fee if I loose the one set issued to me. Much cheaper to have additional keys cut...
7) There are other fees listed on the last page of the contract, but since I didn't have the spare money to purchase a copy of the contract I can't remember now what they were. I wish now I'd had pen and paper to write some of this stuff down.
8) Also, I found that the agent kept ammending her initial statements (read into that she was loose and easy with the truth...less so when my British friend was with me to catch her on things). Be careful with this approach, I think Estate Agents here are paid on commission and there are few safe guards for someone who doesn't know their rights here. It pays to be alert and aware during the entire process...
9)Was told by the estate agent that this new property was in band A for council tax (just like my old flat) and just received a notice from the council that it is in band B...40pounds more per month. I'm going to go to the council today just to make sure the mistake isn't there's...I suspect not though knowing now what I know about my friendly estate agent.
Despite all that, it is a LOVELY flat within 20mins bus ride of school and surrounded by parks. Also, the walls here are better insulated so that I hardly ever hear my neighbours at all. So despite the warnings given above, this was a good move that would not have been possible without going through an estate agent. I just highly recommend having a friend or peer from school with you to help with the estate agent when needed. I also recommend that you ride the bus to work during peak travel times from the flat you want to rent BEFORE you exchange any money. That way you have a good idea if the place will work for you or not. The incredibly long bus ride was the main problem with my old flat...and it was only 20mins away from the school during rush hour by car.
Good luck and happy house hunting everybody. |
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Sorry, I don't know why my name didn't appear last post as I did type it in...
This is what I learned from talking with the folks at the Council the other day. In Luton, the council tax is determined MAINLY by the number of bedrooms in the residence, but can be increased by the DESIRABILITY of the area in which that residence is located. So my new flat having only 1 bedroom should put it in Band A (the lowest amount) for council tax. However, because I've moved to a rather posh/desired part of town all flats in this area automatically move up a band.
I did get the feeling though that how council tax is determined and how much council tax is charged differs from one council area to another. Long story short: You will have to ask questions to find out how council tax is levied in the area to which you are moving. Also, ask about any DISCOUNTS for which you may be eligible (i.e. since I live alone, I get a 25% discount on my council tax.)
Again, happy house hunting.
Meli |
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One thing you might consider is to live in a short term flatshare when you first arrive, and then look for your own place once you're settled.
I agree with others who posted, the cost depends on the area. But you can easily compare relative costs on gumtree.com |
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