Freelancer Husband

Greetings!

I've signed paperwork to transfer to the UK branch of my company.  I'll be working in the City of London.  We know that it's brutally expensive - that's the first comment everyone makes.  Ideally, we'd find some place to live in Zone 2 for my commute. 

My husband did freelance work in the States.  He may potentially stick with this line of work when we move.  Due to this, I'm wondering how that will work for renting.  We'll have no rental history in the UK, ditto banking history. 

Anyone know what landlords look for in a potential tenant?  Will they be dividing my annual salary by 3 to see if I can cover our place?  If so, is that net or gross?  Would it be wise to get a starter place after we leave corporate housing (2 months for free!) and then move somewhere more permanent after he's working?

All comments, suggestions, questions and emojis welcome!  Thank you in advance.   

Well, we moved here (from MSP actually, though I am not a Minnesotan) with no jobs and no credit and eventually (after we got ourselves employed) landed a decent enough 2 bed in outer zone 2 (West Hampstead) with an independent landlord.  I had braced myself for dealing with the agencies and was thrilled that this actually came through.  She was thrilled because it meant she didn't have to pay agency fees.

Because you are on a work contract then if you go the agency route they will probably still run the credit check (and charge you for it) but be ok with the fact that you have a work contract in hand.  If you have the time and patience to look for an independent landlord I would recommend it, using gumtree.com (does anyone still use Loot? Even online?).  For some bizarre reason the whole housing market persists with the foolish middleman agency system which really only serves to drive up prices further both on the weekly rate and the paperwork "filing" charges.  If you are the primary breadwinner then I would base any personal budgeting on your salary and whatever your husband brings in as extra as it is so variable.

If you go independent - depends on the owner.  Some want to see work info, some dont care.  Some want to see bank info, some dont care.  Ours took our word that we could afford the rent and we were employed, though it probably helped that we dressed nice and were already in a shared situation in the neighborhood. 

It can be costly to move, so if you can find a place once and stay there, that would be best.  The cost of housing is high, yes, but really the lack of choice, or even decent choice for the cost is the bigger challenge.  You may have to make some concessions regarding quality and what you want and what you can afford.

Also, be sure to add an extra £200 a month to any rent rates to account for council tax and bills.  Some places include these, most dont.

Finally, both of us work in the City and have fairly non-brutal commutes, so as long as you aren't moving to, say, Battersea or Clapham or anywhere connecting through London Bridge you should be fine.  I take the train and its 20 minutes each way while the boyfriend takes the Tube and its about the same for him.  We could maybe go two more stations further out into zone 3 and it would add an extra ten minutes, but its really because of weekend activities that we stay within the first two zones.  I hated driving every day the same amount of time in the US, so find this much more tolerable!

Many agencies use the calculation of monthly rent x 30 (though some may say times 40) and that should be your minimum annual salary for affordability.

So if a property is £2,000 a month, you should earn at least £60,000 a year (gross).

As you won't have UK credit, worst case scenario will be that you'll be required to pay 6 months rent up front.  When I moved to the UK on a work contract, they did not require this from me but we have had people on the forum be required to do so.

Thank you for your replies.  Immensely helpful.  I know that we will have some time once we are over there to figure things out.  However, knowing that others have dealt with something similar and learning about some of the ropes is doing a lot to help my nerves.  Loads of things are up in the air right now and I feel my best option is to research and ask questions.  And ask more questions and do more research.  And then maybe watch some cartoons?

Loads of things are up in the air right now and I feel my best option is to research and ask questions.  And ask more questions and do more research. 

There are more immigration changes being announced this autumn and more to come after that, which may affect you or your husband. Here is some of what is being considered.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-announces-migration-advisory-committee

I assume you already know that your visa won't lead to UK citizeneship?

Was aware that our visa would, at best, lead only to indefinite leave to remain.  ILR is our hope.  Asked HR in UK about getting a general visa vs a Intra Company Transfer in an email on the 18th.  Still haven't had a response.  If we ICT we are still moving it's just going to make me anxious thinking about what happens after that visa expires and we have no path to staying.

THANK YOU so much for sharing the proposed changes.  Believe that if these went through that we would not be able to move to the UK.  Of course, I'm far from an expert.  I'm just a monkey with a keyboard and a search engine. 

Was aware that our visa would, at best, lead only to indefinite leave to remain.  ILR is our hope.

Anyone with ILR can apply for citizenship if they meet the other requirements (UK residency, good character requirement etc.), so if you can get ILR, you can qualify for citizenship. However, it's the ILR part that is more difficult to qualify for.

People on a Tier 2 Intra-Company Transfer visa cannot qualify for ILR or citizenship at all, and are only allowed to spend a maximum of 5 years and 1 month in total in the UK.

If you came to the UK on an ICT visa, you would not be allowed to switch from a Tier 2 ICT visa directly to a Tier 2 General visa - there is a 12-month cooling off period, so if you wanted to switch, or to apply for another Tier 2 visa after your 5 years in the UK, you have to go back to the US for 12 months first.

Asked HR in UK about getting a general visa vs a Intra Company Transfer in an email on the 18th.  Still haven't had a response.

I don't know for sure, but my gut feeling is that the company probably wouldn't be able to give you a Tier 2 General visa if you already work for them and qualify for an ICT visa - they likely can't just chose which one to give you, it would depend on whether or not you can qualify for one (it's harder to qualify for a General visa than an ICT visa) and whether they will be allowed to  issue a Tier 2 General certificate of sponsorship (which are restricted, and only a certain number can be allocated to a company per month).

For a Tier 2 General, the job has to be a genuine vacancy within the company (i.e. it would have been advertised to the UK public) and unless the job is on the Skills Shortage List or it pays more than £155,300 per year, they would have to prove they have carried out the Resident Labour Market test in the UK, which involves advertising the job across the UK and EU for a certain number of weeks, interviewing UK/EU candidates and showing they found no suitable applicants in any of the 27 EU countries, before they would be allowed to hire you on a Tier 2 General visa.

Ultimately, the Tier 2 ICT visa is relatively easy for you to qualify for and for your company to assign, while the Tier 2 General visa is trickier to qualify for and more difficult for the company to assign in comparison to an ICT visa (more time and money for them).

Thanks for the info, ksand.  Guess that explains the office's slow response.  I know that they had advertised for my position for some time before I put my hat in the ring.  Not sure if what they had done prior to offering me the position qualifies.  My skill set is pretty unique but nothing on the shortage list.  They might not want the hassle.

We'll take the Intra Company Transfer if it comes to that.  Just wanted them to know that if it works out with me moving there that I'd have to leave in five years.  There are other offices and they could transfer me back to the States or to another international office.  We were hoping to move to the UK permanently but it sounds like doing that through a work visa is not all that likely.

Thanks for the info, ksand.  Guess that explains the office's slow response.  I know that they had advertised for my position for some time before I put my hat in the ring.  Not sure if what they had done prior to offering me the position qualifies.  My skill set is pretty unique but nothing on the shortage list.  They might not want the hassle.

Yeah, it will really depend on the company's policy and which visas they have permission to assign, as well as whether you can even qualify for a General visa.

I haven't heard of anyone who qualified for an ICT visa trying to get a General instead, because usually it's so hard to get a Tier 2 visa in the first place, that if they are in a position where an ICT visa is a possibility instead, they will jump at it.

We'll take the Intra Company Transfer if it comes to that.  Just wanted them to know that if it works out with me moving there that I'd have to leave in five years.  There are other offices and they could transfer me back to the States or to another international office. 

We were hoping to move to the UK permanently but it sounds like doing that through a work visa is not all that likely.

The problem is that the UK government is trying to reduce immigration to the UK by any means possible, and they are trying to stop people from being able to qualify for permanent residence/citizenship, while also increasing the number of jobs available to UK/EU citizens.

Tier 2 General work visas are typically the most difficult type of visa to qualify for (I know of people who have been trying for years to get one and they still can't qualify) and if you have the chance at a Tier 2 ICT, you are already in a very good position and there are many people who would jump at the chance to be in your position .

Ksand, really appreciate your responses.  This is one of those times on UKY that I badly want to buy someone a pint!

It's really helpful to know that we are lucky to get the Intra Company Transfer.  That's certainly how we've been trying to look at it.  The older I get the faster a year goes by anyway.  If they want me back for five more years then we'll take that route.

Moving to the UK is a dream come true for us.  If it sounds like I'm less than enthused it is most likely a by-product of the wait to find out more details.  I'm a planner and you can only plan so much.  Eventually you want to start doing. 

My hope is to keep learning and then to be a listening ear when I can help someone else like you've helped me.  That and to possibly stop stress eating.  Don't want to set my sights too high at the moment.  It's still early days. 

Tier 2 General work visas are typically the most difficult type of visa to qualify for (I know of people who have been trying for years to get one and they still can't qualify)

Even those who find a sponsor and qualify for a work visa that gives citizenship, can still get refused. Shortages jobs visas are issued first, then the rest are granted on salary. For this months allocation the UK only gave visas to those who will earn over 46k. The rest of those applicants can try again next month but many are unlikely to get a visa if they are at the lower end of the pay scale.

Hello

I'm an American living here with my British hubby and I work for a tenant referencing company called Let Alliance.
 If you can find a letting agency named London Relocation, they are wonderful!

Our criteria is total rent multiplied by 36 to get the minimum amount for affordability. No UK credit, its ok if employed in a professional position. What that is exactly is left to the account managers discretion.

We can take savings into account if it is in a UK bank account.

This is really helpful information.  Thank you!  We have quite a bit of cash in our savings now that we can move into a UK account once the visa application business is over.  I think it's something like three times my annual salary in the UK would be.  We know that my husband will eventually be working.  So our hope is that we can get a place that would be nice enough so that we do not need to move again.  Based on earlier feedback in this thread, moving is expensive.

Basing our affordability strictly on my salary might limit us a little.  It helps to know that there may be some consideration based on what funds we have available to us.  We'd like to base it just on what I'm able to cover just in case his search is lengthy.  Loads to learn and this forum is amazing!