Moving in England soon.

Hi Keza,

Your topic has been introduced as a new thread on the England forum for better visibility (it was off topic on the other thread)

I wish you good luck and i hope other members will be able to advice you.
All the best,
Christine

Hey Keza,

Well..whilst I was at uni, everyone was talking about going to London. It made it quite clear that this is where 'everyone' goes, so job opportunity wise, I figured Manchester would be better. Got a job before I had even graduated in a related field to my degree, so all was good and I have stayed ever since.

I don't particularly like London. Most people I know there feel its a bit too big..living in the same city as your friends but taking up to 1.5 hours to go see them is a bit of a deterent. Loads to do there all the time, but too many dogs after the same bone if you catch my drift. Rents are pretty high for the quality and size of property you get. I have a 2 bedromm duplex penthouse just outside of city centre manchester for what you could be lucky to get a grubby 2 bed flat in a dodgy part of town in London.

Birmingham I have only been to once. It's known for being quite an ugly city, modernist/brutalist architecture and town planning. And for being the official second city, it's not as dynamic as Manchester. I saw alot of poverty, though they have been spending alot of money on regeneration schemes since I was there so I'm a bit out of touch. If you like grindcore or heavy metall, I suppose its a cool place to be as its the city that gave birth to it..but there might be a connection between the built environment and the urge to play loud heavy music to drown out the world no?

Now that I have been in Manchester for a few years and learnt the ropes, I have found it to be a welcoming city with a bunch of really nice people in it and a good cultural scene whether it be music, theatre, film, etc, etc. If you get bored of the town centre, there are other parts of town to head to for food, drinks, parks, etc or if you go just slightly further afield, you have the pennines. A 'mountain' chain with some picturesque walking trails and stuff. The other side is full of english countryside which is quite 'quaint' too if you like that sort of stuff.

Hope this helps.

Hello,

Thank you Christine for having removed my topic. I'm so Glad someone replied to it!

@ Knut: Thank you sooooooo much for your help:). I was looking for someone like you because I don't know a lot about Manchester but I've been there once and I liked it. I totally agree with you concerning London. It's the favorite destination of too many people and I'm sure that decreases the opportunities to find a job quicly. Actually, I'm starting to think that London would not be the best option for me. As I said I'm 24 and I'll have to do everything on my own. Moreover, I want to make sure I choose a place where it's pleasing to live and where finding a job is not too difficult.
Now, I have 3 questions about the flats there:
1. Where do you advice me to go?? I'm looking for something not too expensive not far from the center. Center of Manchester?
2. What kind of agences could help to find a job?
3. Do you think I should start by living in a hostel ("auberge de jeunesse") and look for room one I'm in Manchester?

Thank you for all!!! Once again, I really appreciate your help

Glad I can be of some help..well, to answer your questions.

1.Living in central Manchester does come with a premium. But if you cross the river just into Salford (the neighbouring city considered to be part of manchester) rents do drop a little. If you look on google earth and find green quarter/victoria station, then follow the river/chapel street and thats the area I mean. Alot of flats have been built in this area and its quite close to the city centre. You could go south as well, but I would try to avoid east and north manchester. If you want a decent 1 bed flat, I think they start around £450-500 these days for a central location. You might be able to bag a bargain though, I found my online on a free add site and definatly paying below the going price. agencies are quite greedy here, both as landlords and agents..outrageous charges in both directions.

2.What type of work do you do? Are you an EU citizen? The job centre (government) is a good place to start to look, all jobs listed with agencies are in theory meant to be listed on their network. And if you have a EU/EEC passport, you can register with them for work. I guess perhpas you can as logn as you have a work permit of any description.. There are also your usual employment agencies dotted arond the town centre. I know theres one by the main bus station in picadilly gardens.

3.Check some prices on b&b's as well for short term, might be quite cheap off season..as long as there isn't a football game on and everything is filled. There's a few hostels right in the centre of town, and 1 slightly out of town in an area called castle field. It's easily walkable to the city centre, about 10 minutes or so.

Hope that covers it. Also..if you're gonna be moving around town via bus alot the first weeks, you can buy day or week pass on the bus which works out cheaper. I think 1 return out of the city centre is more expensive than a day ticket. Not sure if you can use it on all the bus companies or what, I pretty much walk everywhere.

Thank you Knut !

1. For the accomodation I am looking for a room. I mean I prefer not to spend a lot of money on the rent. I guess I can find a 1bed room in house to share with 1 or 2 other people. Have u a free add website in mind?

2. Yes I am an EU citizen so I don't need any visa to be able to work. I am gratuated in Marketing Management the ideal would be to work in that field but I can do any other job. Is it easy to find job such as waitress, sales, etc.. I've heard about Trafford Centre.Do you know some good places for such small jobs??

3. I have found a hostle in Manchester : Hilton Chambers and Hatters ( but I don't think they are the cheapest)  but they look good and safe...

Finally,considering that you live in Manchester which place do you think can be helpful to find a job and where the accomodation (room) are not too expensive ?

Thanks again for your help

Hi Keza,

Nice to hear something from another Belgian. Am living for 3 months now in Manchester, after getting relocated from Antwerp. I will stay here for 2 years. Are you Dutch or French by the way? I just have completed the full process of getting relocated to the UK - it's not so straight forward then you might think. The first weeks might be a little difficult & there are certainly some things you need to know. The UK is quite 'formalistic' in a range of topics in comparison with Belgium.

If you have some questions about relocation / rent prices / UK government requirements / obtaining a bank account and so on ... send me an email on [email protected]. I can provide you my phone number then if you want (i dont want to post it here).