Moving Costs

Hi all

I hope I am posting this in the right spot! I am curious how much money people saved before their move from the US to UK. I have heard that I should plan on saving around $12 K (USD) before the move while others have said around $4 K (USD) would be fine. Any suggestions?

Here's my situation if that helps:
My husband and I are relocating to UK from Oregon so we would need flight etc. I am going to be a student full time for MA/PhD program. We are bringing our 2 dogs and want to rent a terraced house or semi detached house (NO FLAT OR HOUSE SHARES). We are only brining clothing and might have other items shipped later but for the inital flight over only 2 large suitcases each and one additional box of stuff plus the cost of shipping dogs. We are hoping to rent a place with utilities included and one that is furnished. We will not be bringing a car. Eventually we will get one but not until we are on our feet.

Suggestions on how much to save are appreciated!! Thanks

I haven't moved, so may not be the best qualified person to reply, however, there are a few things to keep in mind:

- Prepping your dogs to ship will probably cost somewhere around $500, depending on how expensive your vet is (they will need multiple vet visits as well as having bloodwork sent to KS for testing)
- Shipping your dogs will probably cost $1,500+, depending on how large they are (I will be sending 1 65lb. dog and 1 12lb. cat, and have been quoted $1,800 for airfare plus about $800 in other misc. fees)

- Many apartments will request several months' rent up-front, especially if you have no credit/banking history in the UK, so I would plan to have at least 3 months' worth of rent in a savings account in case you need to sign a check over to the landlord on moving day.

- Most places I've seen listed have utilities included in their rent, so that's a plus.

I hope that helps!  I'm sure there are other concerns, but those are the things I've encountered thus far.

You don't say what part of the UK you will be moving to.  That will impact the amount of money you should save, as different parts of the country are more expensive than others.

If you are hoping to get your airfare, shipping, pets fees, house deposit and a couple of month's rent into your moving costs, $4k isn't going to come close.  

People can give you better advice is you lay out what you need to include in your moving costs (if I have missed anything in the above) and also where you are going to (house prices are different in London to say Leeds).  Also, how much are you planning to ship?

ETA: x-posted with BostonDiner

You don't say what part of the UK you will be moving to.  That will impact the amount of money you should save, as different parts of the country are more expensive than others.

We are moving to the Bristol area. I am open to living in the city and outside the city but we won't have a car right away....

If you are hoping to get your airfare, shipping, pets fees, house deposit and a couple of month's rent into your moving costs, $4k isn't going to come close.  

People can give you better advice is you lay out what you need to include in your moving costs (if I have missed anything in the above) and also where you are going to (house prices are different in London to say Leeds).  Also, how much are you planning to ship?

ETA: x-posted with BostonDiner

Well see that was my thought...when this person told me $4K I was like ahhhhhh I don't think that's going to be enough!

We are figuring a plane ticket for each of us (around $800 USD), shipping the dogs ($1500 USD) and then having three months rent (around $2000 USD if the rent was about $600-$700 USD a month). We were only planning on bringing 2 large suitcases of clothes each and then possibly shipping other things once we got established. We were also figuing in addition to rent having around $1000 USD for utilities for 3 months and then having about $2000-3000 USD to live on for 3 months. So we figured we should save around 10K (this is of course not including school tuition which I have covered through loans and the required income for the visa etc). I am not including the cost of things such as vet visits etc since I would have to do that normally and budget for that in my normal expenses. Does this sound completely unrealistic?

I cannot help with the costs of Bristol directly, because I don't know the area, but approaching it from a budgetting point of view is definitely the way to go.  You should have seen my budget spreadsheet!     Have a look on rightmove.co.uk for housing prices.

I would also cost everything in the actual currency.  So if you pay for your flights in USD, fine.  But for all your UK rent and utilities, start budgetting for those in GBP.  You can easily refine your costs by querying here. 

For now, I think your flight costs and dogs shipping might be a little low.  The rent also seems a bit low and you haven't factored in council tax, which can be 10%+ of your monthly rent costs.  Utilities are a bit high.

YOu haven't really budgetted for things.  I know you want a furnished place but this is so going to vary based on the class of property you get.  If you are going cheap on the house, then you need to know you will have to likely buy stuff -- the odd chair or tv or whatever.

I cannot help with the costs of Bristol directly, because I don't know the area, but approaching it from a budgetting point of view is definitely the way to go.  You should have seen my budget spreadsheet!     Have a look on rightmove.co.uk for housing prices.

I would also cost everything in the actual currency.  So if you pay for your flights in USD, fine.  But for all your UK rent and utilities, start budgetting for those in GBP.  You can easily refine your costs by querying here. 

For now, I think your flight costs and dogs shipping might be a little low.  The rent also seems a bit low and you haven't factored in council tax, which can be 10%+ of your monthly rent costs.  Utilities are a bit high.

YOu haven't really budgetted for things.  I know you want a furnished place but this is so going to vary based on the class of property you get.  If you are going cheap on the house, then you need to know you will have to likely buy stuff -- the odd chair or tv or whatever.

Great this is very very helpful!!! The Council Tax is that something that is due monthly? What does it cover? Is it like property tax in the USA?

I think your costs are way off.

• I assume the $800 airfare is per person and includes your transportation (with two dogs) to Bristol from London?
  
• A quick poke around Gumtree was showing £150-200/wk for most flats (and don't forget a month has more than 4 weeks in it.)
• As for utilities, look here http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=50633.0

for a good list and estimated costs.

• And not only getting your dogs to the UK, but going through the whole PETS scheme is costly.

So we figured we should save around 10K (this is of course not including school tuition which I have covered through loans and the required income for the visa etc).

I'm not sure what you mean by "required income." Do you mean you'd have $10,000 in addition to the $15,000 in tuition fees and the $15,000 you're required to have saved for maintenance fees?

I am not including the cost of things such as vet visits etc since I would have to do that normally and budget for that in my normal expenses.

If you mean that the $10,000 is in excess of the $30,000 you have saved/borrowed for the cost of attendance AND your "normal expenses" (though you were budgeting for rent and utilities, so I'm not sure what you mean by normal expenses here) then you should be fine.

We are figuring a plane ticket for each of us (around $800 USD), shipping the dogs ($1500 USD) and then having three months rent (around $2000 USD if the rent was about $600-$700 USD a month). We were only planning on bringing 2 large suitcases of clothes each and then possibly shipping other things once we got established. We were also figuing in addition to rent having around $1000 USD for utilities for 3 months and then having about $2000-3000 USD to live on for 3 months. So we figured we should save around 10K (this is of course not including school tuition which I have covered through loans and the required income for the visa etc). I am not including the cost of things such as vet visits etc since I would have to do that normally and budget for that in my normal expenses. Does this sound completely unrealistic?

I've sent you a PM with some Bristol info, but I'll reply here too...If I'm honest, I think it's going to cost you a lot more than you think - just imagine everything is going to be about 1.5 times more expensive than you are used to paying in the US.

I think you'd be very lucky to find a house to rent in Bristol for less than about $2,000 a month. A 2-bedroom flat is more like $1,000 upwards per month and a one-bed flat is around $800 upwards. You'd probably only manage $600-$700 a month in a house-share.

In terms of other living costs, you'll probably be looking at about $400+ per month for utilities/council tax (we pay about $500 a month for utilities in my flat... council tax for my flat is about $2,300 a year, paid in monthly installments), $300+ for food (not including eating out), $250+ for public transport (if you are both using it every day - based on £20 a week per person).

One thing to bear in mind is that in order to be granted the visa you have to show that you have £5,400 in living costs for yourself and £400 per month for your husband... so for 9 months of study you need to show at least $14,500 in available funds (plus your tuition fees) before they will approve your visa.

Edited to add: the prices I've quoted for house/flat rents do not include utilities and they are usually unfurnished properties. Also if you are a student you don't have to pay any council tax. However, if your husband is not a student he will have to pay it, but he can get a 25% discount if he is living alone (you don't count as you are a student, so he is essentially living alone in terms of the number council tax payers in the property).

I agree with ksand24. I was wondering where on earth you found a terraced or semi-detached, furnished or not, with our without utilities for anything even close to resembling 600-700 USD per month. 600-700 GBP is probably very unrealistic. Think twice that unfortunately.

also, with 2 dogs its going to be hard to find a furnished place I think. Others can correct me if I'm wrong. It was hard to find an unfurnished place with dogs. Also be prepared to pay more security deposit with dogs, especially 2.

Hope you get it all figured out!

also, with 2 dogs its going to be hard to find a furnished place I think. Others can correct me if I'm wrong. It was hard to find an unfurnished place with dogs. Also be prepared to pay more security deposit with dogs, especially 2.

Our experience was for 2 cats in central London, and it was definitely difficult.  We have friends with a dog and it was close to impossible for them.  We ended up forking over 8 weeks of deposit instead of the usual 6 to smooth over the pet issue.  I realize all of these things can be negotiated, but when you need a place sooner rather than later and you have requirements, it's definitely a bit of a challenge. 

Unless they're small dogs, $1500 is probably low.  We paid $1500 from Boston - Heathrow, plus another 245 GBP on the ground at Heathrow.  The actual process itself wasn't cheap either.  Compared with others' fees, our vet was on the expensive side, but all in, shipping and vet visits and such, it came very close to $3,000 for 2 cats totalling 28ish pounds.

I realize your move is still a way off, but the exchange rate can take a big bite out of your wallet before you've done anything.  Last summer when we were flat hunting, it was just over 2:1, so 8 weeks of deposit was an obscene amount of money in USD.

I agree with ksand24. I was wondering where on earth you found a terraced or semi-detached, furnished or not, with our without utilities for anything even close to resembling 600-700 USD per month. 600-700 GBP is probably very unrealistic. Think twice that unfortunately.

also, with 2 dogs its going to be hard to find a furnished place I think. Others can correct me if I'm wrong. It was hard to find an unfurnished place with dogs. Also be prepared to pay more security deposit with dogs, especially 2.

Hope you get it all figured out!

Hummmm OK I think I have completely confused everyone including myself LOL 
See I find this whole moving process very misleading and confusing so this is why I joined this site for HELP

So for example, this is the website I found offering a house for rent at 650 pounds PCM (per calendar month right? So 30 days?).
Am I just not understanding how things work in this country for rent etc? HELP 

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/find.html?searchType=RENT&locationIdentifier=REGION%5E219&radius=0.0&displayPropertyType=&minBedrooms=2&maxBedrooms=3&minPrice=500&maxPrice=700&maxDaysSinceAdded=&sortByPriceDescending=&_includeLetAgreed=on&primaryDisplayPropertyType=&secondaryDisplayPropertyType=&oldDisplayPropertyType=&oldPrimaryDisplayPropertyType=&oldSecondaryDisplayPropertyType=&letType=&letFurnishType=&houseFlatShare=false&x=65&y=9 [nofollow]

I think your costs are way off.

• I assume the $800 airfare is per person and includes your transportation (with two dogs) to Bristol from London?
  
  
  I'm not sure what you mean by "required income." Do you mean you'd have $10,000 in addition to the $15,000 in tuition fees and the $15,000 you're required to have saved for maintenance fees?
  
  If you mean that the $10,000 is in excess of the $30,000 you have saved/borrowed for the cost of attendance AND your "normal expenses" (though you were budgeting for rent and utilities, so I'm not sure what you mean by normal expenses here) then you should be fine.
  

The $800 is per person ($400 for me and $400 for my husband and I know that rates may vary). This DOES NOT include the cost of 2 dogs (my dogs are 2 small dogs one is a chihuahua and the other is a beagle). I budgeted $1500 USD roughly for SHIPPING ONLY to move the dogs to the UK.

And yes I was referring to the maintenance fees when I said "required income" for my visa. I have the 15 K for tuition and roughly 6K saved so far for the maintenance fees and am hoping to save another 6-8K more this year. Which would be around 12-15K saved just for maintenance fees.
[/list]

The $800 is per person ($400 for me and $400 for my husband and I know that rates may vary). This DOES NOT include the cost of 2 dogs (my dogs are 2 small dogs one is a chihuahua and the other is a beagle). I budgeted $1500 USD roughly for SHIPPING ONLY to move the dogs to the UK.

Even shipping only, $1,500 sounds low.  Based on the quotes I've gotten, it seems like 2 small to medium sized pets are about $1,000-1,200 for airfare ONLY.  On top of that most airlines charge extra handling fees to process your animals (I was quoted $175 total).  On top of that, DEFRA in the UK charges fees when you land (assuming those aren't included in your airfare quote, but for $1,000-1,200 they wouldn't be), so that's another £290, assuming you're flying with them...if not, tack on £295 on top of that.

So, even if we go with $1,000 airfare + $175 handling + £290, at today's exchange rate that's $1,640 right there.  Then you need to buy airline-approved carriers for them ($50-$100 each, assuming they're small to medium), pay to transport them from the airport to your new place in Bristol, etc.  And that's assuming the cheapest option and that the exchange rate does not change at all from today.  Also assumes that airfare will not increase from today's rates for pets.