Moving to England..

jammin_2

Hi there, looking for a bit of advice please.

I'm British, was born in England and lived there most of my life, until was about 22. At the age of 22 I went travelling round the world and never went back to the UK.

I'm now 26 and I live in the Republic of Ireland. I'm also now married and have a young baby.

My wife and I want to move back to England (actually, my wife's never lived in England), and I'm stuggling to understand how best to go about it.

I understand that I may be able to claim Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit, and, because my wife won't (initially) be working and my job is probably going to earn me only about £15k a year, I should be able to claim Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit.

Am I right so far? I've been on to entitledto.co.uk and this is what it suggested anyway.

In Ireland we now rent privately a lovely 3 bedroom semi and we'd love to do the same in England. Over here formalities are very relaxed with private renting. In our experience, so long as you "look" ok, the landlord is happy enough to give you the keys. In understand that in the UK it's a lot different, and they even do credit checks? Well, that might be a problem to start off with, since I didn't have a very good credit score when I lived in England 4 years ago. For the last 3 years that I've lived in Ireland, however, I've built up a very good credit rating, and have bank accounts and a credit card that I pay off monthly and in full. Still, will my poor UK credit rating cause a problem for us renting a house?

Next thing is, I understand that Housing Benefit, assuming that entitledto.co.uk is correct and I am entitled to claim it, is allowed for private rented accommodation, is that right? If so, how does that work then? What's the procedure? Must I claim before I find a house, for example from here in Ireland? I doubt I'd be able to, and in any case I wouldn't yet have a job in the UK. The best would be for us to go over, find a house, move in, start work, claim Housing Benefit (in that order). Is this possible?

Sorry to be vague, but I'm so confused. Many thanks.

Conor_3

OK...not sure of the entitlement to WTC etc so I'll not comment on that.

regarding HB, yes you can get it on private properties but you need to already be renting it and have a copy of the tenancy agreement. You can claim from the day you rent it but you can't claim in advance. If you've got proof of good credit history in Eire, bring it with you.

You've got the order of doing things the right way around.

bandraoi

I've done the move to the UK twice from Ireland but I'm Irish and I've never looked for housing benefit etc. so can't help there.

What you can rent will depend on where you're moving to. Private landlords tend to be more flexible than estate agents on lack of credit history. I have had a letting agent waive the requirement for a credit check before. Proof of employment, proof of savings, proof of history in Ireland, the offer of a bigger deposit will help.

In terms of credit history - have you a bank account or credit cards in the UK still? Do you have an address (say your parents) that you've been using? Could you reactivate these in preparation for a move home? Could you open a bank account now at one of these addresses in preparation for a move home?

jammin_2

bandraoi wrote: »

I've done the move to the UK twice from Ireland but I'm Irish and I've never looked for housing benefit etc. so can't help there.

What you can rent will depend on where you're moving to. Private landlords tend to be more flexible than estate agents on lack of credit history. I have had a letting agent waive the requirement for a credit check before. Proof of employment, proof of savings, proof of history in Ireland, the offer of a bigger deposit will help.

Thanks, that's good to know. I'll be sure to bring over all my bank and credit card statements.

bandraoi wrote: »

In terms of credit history - have you a bank account or credit cards in the UK still? Do you have an address (say your parents) that you've been using? Could you reactivate these in preparation for a move home? Could you open a bank account now at one of these addresses in preparation for a move home?

The answer to this is a big no. I left debts behind, when I left the UK. Not proud of it, regret it totally, but at the same time not in a position to repay it. Please nobody come on flaming me about this, I know I did wrong and that's not what this thread's about.

So no, I've no bank accounts in England and certainly not in a position to open one for a while. However, I am in the fortunate position in that I do have a Sterling current account with Ulster Bank in the North of Ireland, that I opened a few months back. They allow residents in the South to open Sterling accounts, providing you physically go up to the North and open it in a Northern branch. So, at least I have a "clean" Sterling account that my salary can be paid into when I return to England.

Apart from this I've nothing left in the UK with my name on, and don't really want anything. I think, in my circumstances, finding a private landlord who'll accept a reference from my current / previous landlord, plus bank statements etc from Ireland for the last three years, plus a large deposit, as suggested, might be best.

Incidentally, I just called the local council in the area we'd likely be moving to in England, and asked about Housing Benefit. As Conor has said, it seems we just have to move in and then apply.

So, all being well, should be quite pain-free. Thanks guys, for your advice. :beer:

mitchaa

Additionally, do not go on the basis of what entitled to tells you.

The website has been giving out some very weird and wonderful figures out recently.

For tax credits, you're better going on the HMRC website (Do i qualify section) and for HB you're better going direct to the council website where you will be moving to.

Entitled to is just a website (A misleading 1 at that)

bandraoi

Those debts are likely to catch up with you when you move home.
I would head to the debt free wannabes board and ask a few questions.

jammin_2

bandraoi wrote: »

Those debts are likely to catch up with you when you move home.
I would head to the debt free wannabes board and ask a few questions.

Thanks man. I've pretty much got my head round that. Plan is to not apply for anything for the next two years (can always use wife's name if needed), and by that time the 6 year Statute Barred rule kicks in, or so I understand.

bandraoi

Not sure what data the credit reference agencies pull, so I hope it works out for you.

Out of sheer noseyness, why are you moving back to the UK?

jammin_2

bandraoi wrote: »

Not sure what data the credit reference agencies pull, so I hope it works out for you.

Out of sheer noseyness, why are you moving back to the UK?

Thanks man.

lol, why moving back to the UK? I dunno. Maybe it's a mistake! There are certainly a lot of great things about living in Ireland. I just want to be closer to my family I guess. Plus, cost of living in Ireland is through the roof. It's now €600 to tax my car for a year. :eek:

bandraoi

woman.

I'm living in London, and shortly moving back West, also because of the cost of living, but then London isn't exactly representative of the cost of living in the UK.

sammyjammy

I could be wrong here but I think it will be impossible to escape the debts you've left behind. When you rent a house, unless its included in the rent you'll have to register with the local council which means you'll be on the electoral role which means your debtors will find out where you are living.

Do you know whether anything formal such as a CCJ have been registered against you? If they have then apply to have these be re-registered after the six years has passed which means they could chase you forever.

Sam