Limit on hand carried cash on US - UK flight?

Reading about all the charges for wire transfers on here. Since I'm going to be making at least two trips back and forth across the Atlantic during our move in late summer, I may consider carrying US bills with me instead. We're going to be using some of the proceeds from the sale of our US house to set up UK life, so we're talking about $15-20k.

Putting aside for a moment the security factors in carrying that amount of money through airports, can someone tell me what, if any, the maximum amounts are that you can bring into the UK? I seem to remember that on the US customs form, you must declare any amount over $10k. Does the UK have something similar?

Following on from this, with the atrocious exchange rates at the moment, I'd prefer to bring over as little as possible. So, given that I've held a UK bank account for the 12 years I've been gone, although with very few transactions, will I have any issues getting car loans or letting a house? I know I'm going to have to build credit to a certain degree, but I hope it won't be as painful as it was when I came to the US.

Two separate questions, I know. If I should start a separate thread for the second one, I'm happy to do so.

Thanks,

This might help.

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageTravel_ShowContent&id=HMCE_PROD1_026096&propertyType=document

Looks like the limit is about 10,000 Euros (or about $13,000).

Cash is defined as notes/coins, bankers drafts or checks.

It will probably cost you about $30-50 to have a bankers draft raised.  If you are taking two trips, split the amount across the two trips and get bankers drafts for the safety of it. 

Another one to add to the bookmarks. Thanks!