Better to start work first then go looking for a flat?

So I have been reading around the Housing forum and trying to get a guage of what my experience will be like securing housing once I get to the UK.

My original plan was get to the UK 5-6 days ahead of my work start date, so I could start flat hunting say the Tuesday before I start working the next Monday. With the expectation that I would be in a hotel for maybe the first 2-3 days, and then securing a short term rental space for maybe another week or two depending on how long the house hunt lasts.

Now I am seeing things about bank accounts, having credit, having a valid UK address, and proving that you have a job to landlords and leasing agents.

I would rather live in some sort professionally run flat/studio development, since that is what I am used to in the states and I would feel more comfortable dealing with an impersonal corporation with a reputation to uphold and clear protocol that I can read in a contract, than some man or woman with a rental property who could disappear, flake out, freak out, rip me off, make my life a living hell.

I saw all of this to ask the following questions:

Job Situation/No Credit History in the UK:
Is the offer letter/letter of trasnfer and a salary quote sufficient to avoid paying a massive 6 month down payment up front?
If the job letter is not sufficient, will pay stubs from my job once I start be sufficient to avoid the 6 month deposit?
Or does it not matter either way since I have no UK credit history I must pay the 6 months in advance?

UK Bank Account/Valid Address:
If I am unable to setup the UK bank account prior to arrival (I have an HSBC savings account here in the States, so I am hoping that will translate into an easy setup of a UK based account), will I be able to use whatever temporary address (either the short term stay, or a friend's address whom I won't live with at all) to easily setup a FULL UK bank account?

Bank Account/Job Situation:
Which of the following combinations would be easier to avoid the 6 month deposit:
a. Job letter and bank account
b. Pay stubs and bank account
c. None of the above

Professional Leasing vs. Private Person Leasing:
Will it be harder for me to secure leasing through a reputable professional company as an immigrant with no UK history?
Should I even attempt?

* Is the offer letter/letter of trasnfer and a salary quote sufficient to avoid paying a massive 6 month down payment up front?
-- it was sufficient for us. We paid 6 weeks security deposit (we had 2 dogs)

* (I have an HSBC savings account here in the States, so I am hoping that will translate into an easy setup of a UK based account)
-- unless you have a premier account it will likely not help a whit. the systems are not connected.

*will I be able to use whatever temporary address (either the short term stay, or a friend's address whom I won't live with at all) to easily setup a FULL UK bank account?
-- not sure. here's how we did it. We put in an offer on a flat. Went to the leasing agency (Dexter's) to sign the lease. They wanted a direct payment (can't think of the name of it -- auto pay) form signed which required a bank account. We got that info, with the signed lease, went to the bank, got the bank account sorted, went back to Dexter's and finished it off.

* Will it be harder for me to secure leasing through a reputable professional company as an immigrant with no UK history?
-- harder? i don't know. but we had no issues... i just have no comparison to say its harder. in fact the only issue we had was our dogs and finding a place that would allow them.
* Should I even attempt?
-- yes.

Awesome answers, thanks julia.

I especially like that you cut out my longwindedness in your answers, lol, I figure the more information I give you the better the answers will be, I applaud for reading through all that and weeding out and providing what I needed.

Have you asked your employer whether they'd be willing to pay for a relocation agent to help you get set up? It would save you an awful lot of hassle.

I agree with Britwife. My agency contacted its current employers to seek volunteers that will allow us  new american hires to stay in their home  for a couple  of weeks until we get all that information completed [bank account, national  insurance number,  etc].  Are you the only american  they hired? It wouldnt hurt to ask your future boss if he/she can get someone  in the agency to house  you for a bit.

It certainly won't hurt to ask, but I was told that because of the current economic climate relocation assistance would be "limited".

i used a relocation agent, though i paid for it myself. one of the cheapest ones i could find was 2000GBP (London area). that involved up to 2 days of house looking.

we did that on a pre-move trip (also funded by ourselves) to get an offer in on a flat. The whole sign lease/go to the bank to get account/pick up keys etc was done the day we stepped foot in the UK. One busy day for sure.

2000! 

Wow, are you sure you don't mean 200? For 2000 that better include a plane ticket and place to stay for the 2 days of house looking. Yikes.

2000! 

Wow, are you sure you don't mean 200? For 2000 that better include a plane ticket and place to stay for the 2 days of house looking. Yikes.

nope. 2000 for her services locating houses, arranging appts, accompanying us to the viewings and negotiating with the letting agents on the lease agreement. That was one of the cheaper ones in London. Its cheaper elsewhere in the UK. Can really be alot cheaper elsewhere. I think someone else paid 495 in another part of the UK. The flights/hotel were extra.

We had 2 kids, including a 5month old, 2 dogs... not convenient to be looking around for a place after we got there. Had we been childless and dogless we would have gone the route of looking after we got there.

Ill do all that for 1000GBP. 

Had we been childless and dogless we would have gone the route of looking after we got there.

Yeah that makes sense, but man, 3kUS$ is still majorly steep, but when you are packing up an entire family it makes sense.

This single childless petless guy would rather sleep in his office at work for 2 weeks and look for a flat in his off time before paying for such a service, lol.

This single childless petless guy would rather sleep in his office at work for 2 weeks and look for a flat in his off time before paying for such a service, lol.

Yeah, that weas basically my idea. Just remember that many letting agencies (and other things) close at 5:00 and are not open on weekends. Ah, I have a new "the hardest thing to get used to").

Yeah, that weas basically my idea. Just remember that many letting agencies (and other things) close at 5:00 and are not open on weekends. Ah, I have a new "the hardest thing to get used to").

Damn you threw that in as an after thought and that was probably the most useful post in this thread! If they close at 5 and aren't open on weekends, I definitely need to come over over at least a week before my start date so that I can look during the day. My job will be in Marlow, I will be looking for a flat in West London, so there would be no way for me to look during the week before 5pm once I start working.

Damn you threw that in as an after thought and that was probably the most useful post in this thread! If they close at 5 and aren't open on weekends, I definitely need to come over over at least a week before my start date so that I can look during the day. My job will be in Marlow, I will be looking for a flat in West London, so there would be no way for me to look during the week before 5pm once I start working.

That is a very good point! Even in our tiny village, though, our letting office is open from 10am-1pm on Saturdays, and they have met with us in the evening to show us a flat since we couldn't do it any other time. But yeah, the majority of services are closed at 4:30 or 5, so it can be pretty hard to accomplish certain things after work. 

I don't know about London specifically, but in the villages around here, the letting agents represent the private owners of the house/flat, so maintenance and other things like that can still vary greatly between properties -- if there is a problem, the letting agent simply calls the owner to sort it out, and it can be a bit of a hassle, especially when compared to the "beehive" giant apartment complexes in Dallas where they would send a repairman up in a few hours if I had any issues (I've even had maintenance guys in apartment complexes get rid of wasp's nests on my balcony before...I don't think that would happen here!) We had some issues when we moved into our new place and called the letting agents several times, but the landlord never fixed anything. My husband basically has taken care of every problem himself. But as far as tenancy agreements and things of that nature, they seem to be pretty standard and similar to the ones I have had in the US.

Again, though, I'm not sure if it's the same in London, or if there are "complexes" that are similar to the ones in Houston.

I agree with Jewlz, although the office won't usually be open out of normal business hours, agents will show you around in the evening and at weekends if you arrange it with them.