Your Biggest Worry

Hi Everyone,
I hope all your plans for moving abroad are going well. It certainly is an exciting time! I am starting a blog focused on England and Canada and the great things about each country as well as what it is like to move/live in each.

It would be such a great help if you could tell me what your biggest worry is or was in making the move abroad?

Thank you in advance,
Michelle
http://bluenosegirl.com

well, I am going to start!
I have quite a few worries so I'm not sure where exactly to begin but I think my biggest fear is sinking quite a lot of money and time into this move and finding that I can't get a job, a flat or bank account and will have to move home within a matter of 3-4 months of which I will have given up a comfy job, car and potentially a horse as well.

I'm worried about finding a flat long distance. They all say no pets and no smokers. Here there are laws that prohibit that sort of exclusion.

Thank you, There're all very honest answers.

I have found in England there are so many more options for renting compared to Canada (and furnished doesn't mean costs twice as much). If you are looking for a pet (excluding shared accommodation) and it is a cat, you may find that when speaking to the estate agents that pets are more acceptable than it first seems. As for setting up permanent accommodation from Canada, unless you can get to England to see places sign papers etc I don't think it is worth the stress, pressure or risk, and you won't find many are very receptive to someone who isn't yet in the country (legitimate agencies and landlords).

I understand the fear of wasting time, money and giving up work, but go along with things see where it takes you. If you don't you may always regret not trying and wonder. It is a journey worth taking and even if things don't go as planned, the experience will still be worth it. Besides there will always be other jobs.

My first attempt didn't go as planned (for personal reasons) and when I got back home I was offered my old job back in Halifax, or a position in the Vancouver office. My advise is don't burn any bridges when you leave your job.

If you are moving to London there are many others new to town and they can be a great support as they understand what you are going through.

rainbowhaven - you have been such a great help to those who are scrambling to try to figure all of this out. Out of curiosity, I know there is a deposit when a flatshare is finally found (and everything is agreed upon)...but does that act like first and last like in Canada (is there even first and last?)? Or, is it simply a deposit that is just "held" in case when you move out, there is damage, etc.?

I would have to say the biggest worry is adjusting to your new life in the UK. London is completely different from any other city that I have visited. First of all, it's hugely spread out, and vastly populated. You can't just drive to anywhere you want to go. In london, you have to pay a fee to enter the center of the city, that you can pay online, each and every time you enter it. This can be expensive and annoying. Also, if you DO drive in london, be prepared to sit in traffic for hours.
Next is the cost of living. In london, the cost of living is HUGE. Groceries for two people per week I would guestimate cost around £90. Flats are tiny and in london, if you pay less than £800 you are going to be either living with 3/4 other students, or living in a shitbox. Oh that is unless, you want to live on the outskirts of london, but then you'll be taking about an hours underground ride into the center each day. Next, if you don't drive, you'll have to take in consideration how much it costs to use the underground. Each zone costs a different amount, and on a monthly basis if you use it each day, this can be a HEFTY price (£100+) Everything here is expensive, food, rent, parking, etc. Unless you are willing to seriously give up your comforts and live wearing oxfam clothing etc, you will not be able to deal with it.
Next I should mention the political situation here. To put it bluntly, it's not good. The UK is in so much debt, that it's decided it's going to be like Canada, and cut so much from the budget that middle class people will basically be living off nothing. The only difference (but an important one) is that this WORKED for the canadian government because we were experiencing growth with people moving into canada and the fact that we as canadians have/had ridiculous amounts of resources. This is NOT the case for the overpopulated first-third world britain.
If you are thinking of coming over to study, be prepared to pay a huge new fee implemented by the universities because the government cut their funding of oooh um £9,000 pounds per year. That is a huge fee, and to be honest, in a role reversal, when i came here, I graduated from an accredited college, and they viewed my skills as A level. (that would be like OAC level in canada) so, I would imagine, that if you did study here, it would not be very benificial to go back to canada with your Upper 2nd degree in sociology.
I could seriously go on about how lucky you are to live in canada. I would suggest a visit to london to see the main attractions because some are quite good, but to live here, is a completely different story.

Hi Lynz,
Deposits in almost all cases is your damage deposit as in Canada. So you would get it all back if there was no damage. It can be 4 to 6 weeks rent (rent in England is calculated on a weekly basis). Once the papers are signed you will pay this and usually the first months rent too. It all depends on the set up you are getting into.

I've been involved in very casual set ups but still requested to have the terms written out and signed with the amount of deposit stated so that there were no misunderstandings.

Can102, again I am sorry your experience was so negative. I would not recommend owning a car in London ever if you live in zones 1 or 2, probably not 3 either, it isn't worth the cost or hassle, and as you said who wants to sit in a car in traffic, better to be on a bus or tube and reading the paper or a good book. Zone 4 or further out might be ok for owning a car, but not for travelling into central London. If you really feel a car is needed there are car clubs where you use cars parked around London on an hourly rate. If one is needed for longer there are lots of rental agencies. That with an oyster card with a weekly/monthly/annual pass on it would be far less expensive and hassle free than owning a car. In London, unlike most of Canada it is fathomable to not own a car and still get around with relative ease.

I'm not sure how you spent £90 a week on groceries, but I assure you I've never spent near that, and my boyfriend can eat. If you shopped at at Waitress and ate steak every night maybe it might cost that.

As for accommodation until recently I shared a flat with other professionals in their late 20's early 30's, it was a lovely townhouse with a small back garden, modern kitchen etc, and didn't pay £800 even with all bills in, and it was in the middle of Camden in an amazing location. I also lived in Notting Hill for £500, it was small hence the small rent but clean and modern, and it even had access to one of the private communal gardens like in the movie, and again I was sharing with others my age. There are many people in London sharing besides students and if you filter out the unsuitable flats there are lots of good ones too.

As for the political situation, I've not been too impressed to hear Canada re-elected Harper (in a majority government this time). But I wouldn't tell people not to move to Canada because of it.

I love both countries, yes England has things I don't like about it, but so has Canada. For me Canada will always be there should I ever want to go back but I have been and continue to enjoy life in England an all the London had to offer. There is amazing art, culture, food, music, theatre, opportunity for travel and more.

Michelle
http://bluenosegirl.com

ok that makes sense. I was ready for you to say that you need to put the deposit and first/last months' rent but that is easy enough.

Do you know of any good temporary accomodation that doesn't cost a whole lot? I've booked my flight - arriving late August 25th. I'm excited but very quite scared to be doing this all by myself (scared of not finding a job and scared that nobody will rent a flatshare to me because I can't get a job). So many unknowns!

If you don't have a job when you are looking for a flat, which I assume you won't, you may have to offer to pay first and last months rent to over come the lack of job, and rental/credit history. It would be a good idea to have it available if needed and keep you options open.

For temporary accommodation it really depends on how tight your budget is. Best to do a search on hostels that offer weekly rates and go from there. http://www.london-hostels.co.uk/ seem like a good set up as they have a lot of different options and price ranges. I would book in for at least 2 weeks minimum.

Hi Lynz,

I stayed at the Generator Hostel in Bloomsbury when I initially moved to London. It does have a bit of a party-hostel reputation, but it's also fairly cheap for a Central London hostel. Also, you can get weekly rates and if you find yourself there longer than expected, you start getting a discount (or at least this is how worked when I was there!). I would just book & pay for a week at a time so I never had to shell out hundreds of pounds in one go OR know exactly how long I was going to stay for. Because it's so big, you're bound to make friends - I not only made friends, but it's where I met my now husband! I also remember a few people becoming friends at the hostel and then moving in together so that's also an advantage (of any hostel, really).

I also just want to add in regards to an above comment that I manage to feed my family of 4 for £100/wk shopping at Sainsbury. And my husband and two little boys like to eat a lot.