Paying first month's rent

Forgive me if this has been asked before or is in the wrong thread. I'm new here and still trying to figure all of this out.
I am moving to the UK in two weeks to begin a postgraduate program in London. I've lived in London before so rather than go for the university housing, I opted for finding my own. I am planning on going a few weeks early so that I can find a flat (or, more realistically, a bedroom). I as hoping to open a bank account with a chequebook attached so that I could just find a flat, write the landlord a cheque  and be done with it.
Of course, as I have no permanent residence in the UK and all of the banks I can find require that you have one before you can get a bank account that comes with a chequebook.
So I find myself wondering what my options are when it comes to paying rent--do most landlords accept traveler's cheques or maybe debit cards? Would a landlord possibly accept an international cheque? Are there other payment options that I should consider? I'm guessing cash is an option but considering two months rent and a deposit would probably have me carrying around about 2000 pounds and it wouldn't leave a paper trail, I'd definitely rather consider other options first.
My question then is this: have you been in this situation before? What did you do about it?
I'm starting to get a bit panicky about this since I'm so close to actually moving, so I'd be grateful for any help you can offer. I'm sure it will calm me down greatly. (and for what it's worth, I do have a US bank account (with a cheque book!) that I can access via atm in the UK)

Generally landlords prefer payment by standing order, direct debit, or bank transfer (all of which are free to do within the UK), so you should be able to just take out cash, put it right into your new bank account, and then set up a transfer to your landlord or estate agent.

Generally landlords prefer payment by standing order, direct debit, or bank transfer (all of which are free to do within the UK), so you should be able to just take out cash, put it right into your new bank account, and then set up a transfer to your landlord or estate agent.

Oh, I've never had a landlord who did that so I hadn't even thought about it! Thank you! That definitely helps me breathe a bit easier

Yeah, I've never even heard of a landlord here who took cheques for the rent!

If you need to do cash initially, just get a receipt, and then you'll have a paper trail. If they won't do a receipt, don't rent from them.

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Depending on where you come from in the US you may be surprised at how little cheques are used in the UK.

You'll find its a vicious circle of "can't open a bank account without a lease but can't get a lease without a bank account" in the UK.  Explain your situation up front and try to have as much easily accessible cash as possible. 

Depending on where you come from in the US you may be surprised at how little cheques are used in the UK.

Definitely - I haven't seen my UK cheque book for about 3 years, let alone used it (I have no idea where it is) and almost no shops or businesses will accept cheques anymore.

I'm living in the Falklands for 5 months though, and I'm cursing myself for not ordering a new cheque book before I left the UK. There isn't a single ATM on the islands at all and cards aren't readily accepted!

Definitely - I haven't seen my UK cheque book for about 3 years, let alone used it (I have no idea where it is) and almost no shops or businesses will accept cheques anymore.

I'm living in the Falklands for 5 months though, and I'm cursing myself for not ordering a new cheque book before I left the UK. There isn't a single ATM on the islands at all and cards aren't readily accepted!

Will the bank send new checks to your UK address and maybe someone could mail them on to you?

DH calls me a luddite whenever he is visiting me here and sees me writing a check!

Will the bank send new checks to your UK address and maybe someone could mail them on to you?

They can do, but it's a bit awkward as post takes about 3 weeks to get here (only 2 flights in and out each week) and I brought a decent amount of cash with me. Luckily I have almost no living costs here (food and board is all paid for me by work), so I haven't needed much money as of yet .

3 weeks! That is a long time  I guess its good to know the option is there if needed....
I remember watching some sort of show/documentary(?) set in the Falklands, it looks quite rugged and wild, it must be great down there

3 weeks! That is a long time  I guess its good to know the option is there if needed....

It's a bit annoying, but you just have to plan ahead with it. I haven't had anything sent to me yet though, apart from an order from Boots (which took 2.5 weeks). Amazon will ship here too though, which is good .

I remember watching some sort of show/documentary(?) set in the Falklands, it looks quite rugged and wild, it must be great down there

Yeah, it's a lot like Scotland or Shetland... no native trees at all though and the sheep outnumber the people by several times (only 3,000 people and many more thousands of sheep). It's winter here though, so it's been cold, windy and somewhat snowy for the last couple of months. One the plus side, I only have to drive 20 minutes to the beach to see penguins and dolphins .

I live on the air force base so a lot is self-contained (we have a gym, swimming pool, cinema, couple of shops, bowling alley, bars etc.) and so I don't go off base all that much... the road to the main town of Stanley is pretty dangerous - gravel-covered and full of pot-holes, and you can't drive anything but Land Rovers along it.

Ohhhhh, that sounds awesome ksand! You are lucky to live in a part of the world that is not seen by many people 
except for the the 2.5 to 3 weeks for mail delivery, don't like that!

As for a bank account, I tried forever to find a bank that would let me open an account in your situation (I didn't have a proper lease) and the one that was least hassle was HSBC's Passport Account, which in the first year is tagged to your US address, but after a year you can upgrade it to a "real" UK account.  You can do all the standing order stuff right away.  I think it's designed for students, but as an expat it was A-OK for me.

After a year I was also able to get a credit card as well to help build credit.

Might be worth "checking" out.  Sorry, I couldn't resist. 

C