Own Flat vs. Shared House/Renting a Room

When it’s your first job and you are alone, then you might not be able to afford a flat. At least not in London, even if you life in a suburb. But you can rent a room and live in a shared house (Wohngemeinschaften) which is very common here.

Properties are very expensive in London and the good ones are generally speaking gone very quickly (days or even hours). But new properties also come onto the market every day, which means that you might be able to find a new home within a short amount of time.

Agencies

Agencies generally only let you rent a particular property when you earn 30 times the monthly rent in a year. It might be also possible to pay the difference up front or to have somebody who acts as an guarantor for you, but I would not recommend it as you also need some money for living, food, heating, water, electricity, internet and so on.

Most agencies will want a contract for at least a year. They usually require you to pay estate agency fees. They might hire someone for checking the property up front to write down in which condition it is and what it all contains (inventory). This might become very important when you want to leave the apartment. When the inventory for example states that there was already a stain on the wall, then you can’t be made liable for that. I would also recommend to take pictures yourself immediately when you move in and talk to the agency if something in the inventory should be added or changed.

Agencies often require a reference, meaning a person who tells them that you are a responsible person, who will most likely not immediately destroy the apartment (usually your last landlord). They might also ask you for a proof of address (for example a bill (electricity, internet …) or a letter from your bank) and a proof of employment.

Private renting

When you rent privately you might be able to rent for a shorter period of time and you don’t have to pay agency fees. They might also let you rent when you don’t have any references or no proof of address.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/private_renting

My Recommendations

I personally like the security an agency gives me. It might be more expensive (you might have to pay when you want to extend the contract, paying for the inventory, agency fees at the start …), but you might not have to argue with a landlord and when there is a problem, you can contact the agency and I assume it is in their best interest to help as soon as possible. When you have for example a problem such as a clogged toilet and the landlord does not call the plumber soon (even though he has to do it by law) it might not be very comfortable to live in the apartment. And people can change, the nicest person can turn out as a monster in the end, especially when it comes to money. Therefore I strongly recommend to always make a detailed, signed contract (tenancy agreement) and to let the landlord sign a document in case something is important (for example when you pay the rent in cash, give him/her the deposit …).

The monthly rent is usually without heating (german: “kalt Miete”) as far as I know. When you calculate your costs, you should also think about the council tax, water, heating, your phone bill, internet, public transport, any streaming services you might use and of course your daily needs such as food.

Residental Area

Maybe you prefer living close to your company. This can be very convenient as you won’t have to travel long every day and it is also cheaper when you don’t have to use the public transport on a daily basis. But if your company is somewhere in the center of London, it might just not be possible as renting there is of course much more expensive.

It might be helpful to have a look at the area where you intend to live, to see the buildings, the streets and the people to decide if you would like to live there.

Where to find your new home?

You can either go to the agencies in your preferred residential area yourself or you can search in the internet, for example on following websites (some of them also have an app):

• HouseShare.com
• zoopla.co.uk
• onthemarket.com
• spareroom.com
• uk.easyroommate.com
• gumtree.com (On this platform you can also buy and sell all kinds of things.)

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/private_renting/renting_privately/ways_to_find_a_private_rented_home

When you want to arrange viewings, just call them! When you email them it takes a long time and some of the houses/rooms/flats might already be gone. When you call them by phone, you immediately know! (By the way: They might be happy if you have already a UK phone number.)

Keep track of your viewings. Write down the address, the name of the person and when you have the viewing, is you have already contacted them etc. You might get confused and then somebody calls and you have no idea which viewing was just cancelled…

Very Useful Websites

www.shelter.org.uk provides a lot of very useful information for everything related to renting in England and Scotland. Including topics such as: Private renting, estate agencies, template letters, council tax, bills, tenancy deposit, rights and responsibilities of the landlord and the tenant, repairs, deposit scheme, … and you can even contact them if you have questions of problems!

The website of the UK government also covers this topic: https://www.gov.uk/browse/housing-local-services

The government also provides the “How to Rent” Guide: www.gov.uk/goverment/publications/how-to-rent.

Tenancy deposit

The tenancy deposit is what is called “Kaution” in Austria. It is a sum of money, which has to be paid up front when you rent a property. It is intended to cover any damage you made to the apartment when you leave. The tenancy deposit is usually equivalent to one or two month’s rent.

Most deposits have to be protected with a government-backed tenancy deposit scheme. This protects your deposit, so that the landlord can’t keep it illegally when you move out.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/tenancy_deposits

Inventory

An inventory can also be a big help to prove at the end that you did not take things, which were not there in the first place and to prove which damage was already there when you moved in.

• http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/private_renting/renting_privately/making_an_inventory
• Example Inventory:
  http://england.shelter.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/23359/Inventory.pdf

Some agencies also require an inventory, which is made by an external company. This means additional security, but possibly also additional costs.

Tenancy Agreement

This very important document contains the rights and responsibilities of the tenant and the landlord and should be signed by the landlord and the tenant.

Useful links

• http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/private_renting/private_renting_agreements
• http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/private_renting/private_renting_agreements/renting_agreements
• How you can end a tenancy agreement: http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/private_renting/ending_a_tenancy

Please be aware that the information given on this site is only intended to give you a rough overview. You can find very decent and detailed information in the links provided.

• You can also register the oyster card to you personally, then you can see all your journeys on a website.
• You can enable auto-top-up, so that you don’t have to go to a shop when your credits get low.
• With the oyster card you can go a little bit into negative.
• When you have a railcard you can add it to your oyster card (in an underground station) to also have your price reduction when traveling using the oyster card.

If you travel often, you might also want to think about a seasonal ticket (week, month, several month, year). Here you’ll find more information about all your options.

Here in the UK you have the option of buying a pay as you go sim card. This is quite convenient, when you have not done a lot of research yet and just need quickly some data or a new phone number. Some of them can be bought in normal shops at the check-out.

It also helps when you only stay in the UK for a limited number of month (you don’t need a year contract!) or if you are unsure how much data you’ll need in the future (will your new home have internet already, do you have Wifi in the company?).

You might be able to put a smaller or bigger data/SMS/minutes package onto your pay as you go sim card, depending which provider you choose. Therefore I’d recommend to check the websites of the different providers to find out what best suits your needs.

There are only a few major carriers such as EE, O2, Three and Vodafone, but lots of different mobile virtual network operators which lease and resale the network. (Here, you’ll find a list of providers.)

For me personally it was important that I also have data when I am at home in Austria.

When you intend to make a year contract you might be required to provide a proof of address.

Being able to (re)search in the internet, stay in contact with people, have a map on the phone and use its navigation functionality makes things much easier, especially when you are in a new country!

Having a UK telephone number also can make things easier. I had the feeling that people were more happy when I gave them my new UK phone number when I arranged viewings for properties.

When you have your own flat, be aware that you will have to arrange a meeting for getting your internet and that it can take some time (I’d say about two weeks) until the engineer arrives. Also check if there are any restrictions which providers you can use to get internet for your flat (talk to your landlord/ agency/ property management (in case your new home has that which can be the case for an apartment house)).

Here in the UK, lots of banks offer bank accounts for free (they make money for example with selling additional packages such as for example insurances). But you’ll need a proof of address (for example an (electricity/water/ …) bill, an estate agent’s contract …), your passport and they will ask you about your job.

You can decide for your own which bank to choose, maybe you already know somebody who can tell you about his or her bank and how happy they are with it.

When you withdraw money from an ATM I would strongly recommend to always request a receipt. This makes it easier to get your money in case the ATM did not work correctly and did not give you your money. Usually this is never a problem, but it could happen anyway.

By the way: You can also use your debit card also for buying things in the internet, you don’t need a credit card for that as it is currently (2015) often the case in Austria.

When I started my job I was not required by my company to immediately give them my bank account details, which gave me some additional time to make the bank account. But it it generally not easy when you move to the UK without having any references for renting and no prove of address which is often required. When you rent privately with “all bills included” you might not even get an, for the bank acceptable, proof of address. But you might be able to ask your company (HR department) for help and advice.

Once you have your bank account you will also get letters from your bank, which can be used as proof of address. But, be aware that some agencies do only accept a proof of address which is a few month old, so in case you rent again and you have not received a bill/ letter from your bank within several month you might want to ask your company for giving you a proof of address.

When you rent a flat yourself, you have to pay council tax. The height of the tax depends on the flat (more specific the band of the flat, which is defined by the council) and the amount of rent you pay. Each flat belongs to a specific council tax band, which is represented by an uppercase letter. The earlier the letter in the alphabet the smaller is the percentage which defines the council tax. The smaller the percentage and the cheaper the rent, the smaller the council tax to pay.
(I am not an expert, so I hope this is all right but no responsibility is taken for the correctness of this information.)

More detailed information can be found on following websites:

• https://www.gov.uk/browse/housing-local-services/council-tax
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_Tax

Furthermore, the website of your borough (german: “Stadtbezirk”) might also provide some useful information.

If you have a driving licence in your home country, you might be allowed to drive in Great Britain as well. You can easily check that, in three quick steps on following website: https://www.gov.uk/driving-nongb-licence

This means you might also be able to rent a car which can be very useful in case you have to relocate again. But be aware that here the left side is the right one :-).

When you work here, you need a national insurance number. As long as you have none, different organisations will create different national insurance reference numbers for you. It might be that your employer organises your meeting for the National Insurance Number which will take place in a Job Center (which is what the AMS (Arbeitsmarktservice) is in Austria), but you might also (have to) do it yourself. You can only apply for a national insurance number once you’re in the UK.

More information about the National Insurance Number can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/browse/tax/national-insurance

Here you can find out how to apply for a national insurance number and what documents you might need: https://www.gov.uk/apply-national-insurance-number

The following websites might already have been mentioned on other websites, but I thought it might be helpful to have a dedicated site for them as well:

• gov.uk – The website of the UK government contains lots and lots of helpful information about renting, recycling, driving, public transport, benefits, living in the UK, working, visas …
• shelter.org.uk – Renting Information, Help and Advice
• tfl.gov.uk – Transport for London
• oyster.tfl.gov.uk – oyster card (Public transport)
• nationalrail.co.uk – public transport information, especially train
• railcard.co.uk – benefits when travelling by train
• gumtree.com – buy and sell all kinds of things

For websites for finding a new home/house share/ flat, please see Renting in the UK.

Information provided by your borough (german: “Stadtbezirk”)

Some things might depend on where you live, such as recycling or the council tax valuation bands. Helpful information can be found at the website of your borough which is something like: {name of the borough}.gov.uk (for example: bromley.gov.uk) or {first letters of the name of the borough}.gov.uk (for example rbkc.gov.uk for Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea). If you are unsure just search in the internet for “{name of the borough} gov.uk”.

Some other things which might be worth mentioning:

• The currency used here is Pounds.
• Check if you need a visa to work in the UK.
• Here, you usually talk about the annual gross salary (german: “Bruttojahresgehalt”).
• I always got the feeling that the job is very important. You’ll get asked everywhere, even in hospital. For me it looked as if people were especially friendly when you just had a good answer (reputable job). But for my experience people are generally very nice and like to help people.
• Shopping: You might find the exactly (!) same product in different shops, so don’t immediately buy the shower mat for 10£, but check first in other shops as well, you might be able to buy it for 2£ or even 1£ as well!
• Request a receipt when withdrawing money from an ATM.
• There’s the Facebook page Austrian Club London for Austrians in London.
• You might need an adapter as the electrical sockets look different in the UK than in most european countries. (But the voltage and frequency is the same.)

GB, UK, England

Great Britain is the island containing

• Scotland (north)
• England (south) and
• Wales (smallest, in the west, surrounded by England and water).

Northern Ireland is on a separate island, but also belongs to the United Kingdom.

Ireland does NOT belong to the UK.

If you receive benefits (german: “Arbeitslosengeld”) in Austria, you might be able to receive it in the UK as well. This does not mean that the UK pays for you, but just that you can take it with you for a limited time (a few month) while searching (or preparing for) a job abroad. You might be required to take a specific form with you and go to the job center within few days after you arrive here, but your advisor might know more.