I arrived in London on Wednesday the 9th, and have been pretty busy since then.
One dilemma that newcomers can face is finding a flat and a bank account. A lot of people may find they need one to get the other. I popped into HSBC and found it fairly easy to get an account there – they have a Passport account for newcomers to the country. Now I don’t know how good this account actually is, it costs £8 a month and I don’t know if the account benefits in themselves are worth that, but the main benefit is that I can get one of these accounts without a UK address, and thus I can actually get a flat here.
I also have a cell phone for the first time in my life. So far I’ve managed not to turn into a zombie, we’ll see how long that lasts. It was fairly easy, a SIM card with a phone number was £3, having it unlocked cost £6, and I got a £15 pay-as-you-go plan which I think gives me 200 minutes and 100 texts and unlimited airtime to other phones on the same network. Not too shabby I guess.
So I’m back to my old nemesis, flat hunting. It’s nerve wracking for me really, balancing proximity to school, budget, size, and how nice the flat/neighbourhood is. Our budget is fairly rigid, I don’t think we can go much higher than £800 a month. Proximity is the next most rigid, staying within 5 miles or zone 2 would be really really ideal. As for attractiveness we’re more flexible, we don’t mind sketchy areas as long as they’re not actually dangerous. We decided size is most flexible, to a point. As long as there actually is a bit of living space, you know. Given the same rent we’d take a smaller flat in a nicer neighbourhood.
So that’s our most pressing issue at the moment, I’ve looked at two flats and have walked around several different neighbourhoods to get a feel for them. One of the flats was fairly decent but I hesitate to pick one of the first few, since I just don’t have any frame of reference. Tomorrow I’ll be heading out to a couple more and stopping in at a few estate agents. Wish me luck!
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