Where to Stay When You Arrive
Written by Ashley Kelmore, Posted in Getting Ready, Move to UK: Before You Go
As part of the negotiation with the UK employer, hopefully you’ve sorted out where you will be staying when you arrive. I strongly suggest you see if you can agree that they will pay for at least three weeks, if not a month, of temporary housing. Here’s why.
The first few days you’re in a new country, you’ll be tired. There’s jet lag, there’s the emotion of leaving friends and family, there’s the excitement, and there’s the confusion. Where do you buy, say, shampoo? Does anyone sell your favorite comfort food? What on earth is 17:00 hours?
You don’t want to add onto that stress by having to frantically find a place to live in a week. You don’t know the neighborhoods, you aren’t sure about how long commutes will be, and you don’t know the reputable landlords.
Work with HR of your new company to see if they can either offer a month in temporary housing to allow you to find a good place to live in a neighborhood that you’ll want to be in, or at least agree to extend the temporary housing if you can’t find a place in the shorter amount of time. If neither of those are an option, see if they’d be willing to ask if any of your future coworkers can recommend reputable estate agents (the people who help you find apartments)
