Starting new job in a new city in 8 days time no place to stay urgent advice

eddjimmyjones

thank you all for your advice, i am moving to crook, co durham, and have looked for places around durham. a friend suggested looking for house shares in darlington or newcastle as it is bigger and 20 min commute to durham by train, so i am pursing this option for now

my new employer offers a rellocation expense but it more like a loan which gets payed back by being taken off wages so best to avoid this.

i hadn't thought of the b&b option, and i have already seen a few deals for 4 nights from £68 to £100, if darling ton or Newcastle fails then its either B&B or long commute.

robpw2

what about using the money your mum is lending you to buy a cheap car, you would be able to drive to work then

martindow

robpw2 wrote: »

what about using the money your mum is lending you to buy a cheap car, you would be able to drive to work then

The car would probably be the cheap bit - if this is the OP's first car the insurance will probably be several times as much.

Finding somewhere to live cheaply close to work is his best bet and minimising expense until his finances are straightened out.

N79

Crook is not really a city (in my book)! Durham only gets that status on a technicality. However, late Sept / early Oct is a good time to search for a room in Durham as there will be a few spaces in student houses where students have failed / not returned / fallen out with their friends (Durham students tend to sign tenancies for the next academic year in December / January of the previous academic year so there are always a few places available where events have overtaken the original groupings).

Obviously living with students is not ideal but if you can get a house share for a couple of weeks / months it will allow you time to find more permanent accommodation.

Failing that, there are cheap B+Bs available in the area (from not much more than GBP20 per night). You could even stay in Durham Castle for less than GBP30 a night until the end of the month as Durham students are incredibly lazy and don't return until October! (The castle is one of the colleges that make up Durham University).

Mum_of_3_3

After a quick search on Rightmove, rent in Crook seems to be very cheap. http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/Crook.html?sortByPriceDescending=false&maxPrice=700&maxBedrooms=2&radius=0.5

There's even a 2-bed house where the owner is offering the first month at £150!

I would grab a B&B for a couple of weeks (phone around as some may give you a discount for staying so long out of season) whilst you do some viewings.

Don't forget to phone the council if you do move into somewhere alone you can get a discount on your council tax!

Congratulations on finding a job and good luck with the move

M_o_3

eddjimmyjones

thank you all for the support and advice i appreciate your advice, after a bunch of phone calls and a few house visits i found 3 diff room shares which accepted a short term 3 month saw all the places and i picked one where i will be sharing with 1 professionals and its only 40 mins bus ride to work so hopefully this works out okay.

ali-t

N79 wrote: »

Crook is not really a city (in my book)! Durham only gets that status on a technicality. However, late Sept / early Oct is a good time to search for a room in Durham as there will be a few spaces in student houses where students have failed / not returned / fallen out with their friends (Durham students tend to sign tenancies for the next academic year in December / January of the previous academic year so there are always a few places available where events have overtaken the original groupings).

Obviously living with students is not ideal but if you can get a house share for a couple of weeks / months it will allow you time to find more permanent accommodation.

Failing that, there are cheap B+Bs available in the area (from not much more than GBP20 per night). You could even stay in Durham Castle for less than GBP30 a night until the end of the month as Durham students are incredibly lazy and don't return until October! (The castle is one of the colleges that make up Durham University).

I wouldn't recommend sharing with students as the OP as the only working person in the house will be liable for the council tax. If it is a large shared house this will be substantial, even with the 25% discount.

BitterAndTwisted

You obviously haven't read the OP's post above yours ali-t. They have found a share with another professional.

OP: that's great news! Good luck

N79

ali-t wrote: »

I wouldn't recommend sharing with students as the OP as the only working person in the house will be liable for the council tax. If it is a large shared house this will be substantial, even with the 25% discount.

I also would not recommend sharing with students but your comment about the council tax is wrong. If the OP took up residence with the students then they would have the whole council tax liability. However, if, as I suggested, the OP

Obviously living with students is not ideal but if you can get a house share for a couple of weeks / months it will allow you time to find more permanent accommodation.

then the OP would not be resident at the property (they would remain resident at their parents / address). Since council tax liability is based on a persons sole or main residence then a short term, temporary stay would not give rise to a council tax liability.

Once the OP finds more permanent accommodation then obviously their main address for council tax will transfer to their new address.

ali-t

N79 wrote: »

I also would not recommend sharing with students but your comment about the council tax is wrong. If the OP took up residence with the students then they would have the whole council tax liability. .

You are right that the household would be responsible for the council tax but as the only non-student there he would be the one who had to pay it and in an HMO that could be a 6 bedroom property.