Renting a Flat in the UK

Most people who move to the UK start out living in a flatshare. Sharing a flat is the quickest and easiest way to find a place to live.

If you're like us, that isn't an option for you. We're a family of three so a flatshare wouldn't work out for us. We looked at lots of flats online and tried to figure the average price for what we wanted. Then we saved the money we'd need for two months rent and a deposit. Unfortunately, when we arrived here and started looking in person we found out that that wasn't enough.

When you apply to rent a flat they do a thorough credit check. They check your bank information, past addresses, tax records, and references. The problem is that they only accept UK records. If you can't pass this intense scrutiny because you have no UK records, they require six months rent up-front. That's a lot of money. After weeks of getting rejected, we borrowed money from family to pay six months rent up-front.

If you can rent from the landlord directly and not go through an estate agent, you might be able to rent without paying that much up-front. It depends on the landlord. Check Gumtree and Loot for ads from landlords. Most of the ads on these sites were estate agents when I was looking, but there were some landlord's listings on there. There isn't really a way to tell. You just need to call and ask. You might also consider going to the area you want to live in and checking shop windows for rental fliers that individuals have put up.

Before you come to the UK get some reference letters from past employers, your past landlord and anyone else you can think of. This will help a lot when you're trying to find a flat to rent.

If you are looking at flats with an estate agent be sure to explain your situation to them so no one's time gets wasted.