Found a Flat, Now What?

I found a lovely place, the paperwork is in progress and I will move in by 1st December.  I know I have to contact the Council regarding Council tax, but what I am wondering is, I want to be able to hook up to broadband as soon as I get in for one thing.

I know I have to contact gas people and electric people and phone people, but how do you decide and is there any place you can look at and compare the choices?

To this point, I have just been sharing with a woman who took care of all of this long ago and doesn't really remember what she did, when, etc.

I will be moving into the Stratford-Forest Gate area (London E7 area) and would love to hear opinions about service providers for internet/broadband, gas and electric as I want to get this taken care of so when I move in, I'm all set.

hey there... i use uswitch.com when deciding on new gas, broadband, etc suppliers.  the website moneysavingexpert.com is also very good.

broadband... for me there was a 4 week wait or so while my broadband company got their ass in gear... and you need a phone line first. 

When I was moving in our house I was asking all of these questions and was basically told you handle all that once you move in. I was surprised as I'm using to having all of that done before you move in somewhere. But, everything was already on (except cable/broadband) so I did just that. We're using Vonage so I didn't have to deal with BT. Just had the service route to our cellphones until we got the broadband connection to have it ring our real phones. Idaho, you might want to consider that. WE have world plan 3 which is free calls to US and free calls to Swedish landlines. You can pay a few extra quid a month and get a Swedish virtual number that the folks there can call for free rather than racking up long distance charges. Just depends on if those charges cost more than the line does

Anyway, hope to see you today in Covent Garden!

I will be moving into the Stratford-Forest Gate area (London E7 area)

I thought you were looking in Central London! 

I lived in Stratford (E15) for a couple of years... hope you will be happy there.

I was looking in Central London, but as you know, you don't get a lot for your money, and when I found this HUGE flat for the same money a little further out, I had to strike while it was still available.  It's actually Forest Gate, but a 5-minute stroll gets me to the Romford Road and the stop for the 25 bus is right there and gets me straight to Bank, so who am I to complain?  I was dubious, given what I've heard about the area in general, but my friend and I walked the whole area before the viewing and it's a lot cleaner and safer feeling than where I am living in Morden, so I went for it.

Good for you!  I hope it works out well for you. 

Did you feel okay in the area?  East London is basically unknown territory to me.