R.01Relocation · Anywhere in England
Where to live when you move to the UK
Not general information. Precise advice for your move: your budget, your commute, your dates.
Moovedin draws up a relocation plan for people moving to the UK from abroad: which areas fit your budget and your commute, what a home there really costs each month, how to rent before you have a UK credit history, and what to do in your first weeks. It is drawn up within one working day of your answers by Matthew Duckett, who has sixteen years in UK property. We put real rents against your numbers, show you how renting here decides, and put what to do in the right order.
Where to live, what it costs, the tenancy, the paperwork.
Year groups, routes, deadlines, the search, the documents.
The Moovedin Blueprint
One payment, drawn up for your family by our relocation team and our schools and education team. The relocation questions, and the schools questions if children are coming.
Get your Blueprint, £99R.02The questions we answer
The questions we answer
Tap a question to see how the plan handles it. The pages inside are from an example Blueprint for the Coleman family, a fictional family we built to show how a plan reads. Yours is drawn up for your move.
How do I rent a home in the UK from abroad?
Most homes in England are let through an agent, who takes a holding deposit, runs referencing on you and wants you or someone you trust to have seen the home. From abroad you have no UK address for the referencing and no UK credit history yet, so the order you do things in matters more than anything else. The plan tells you what to line up before you fly, what you can do from a video viewing, and what waits until you land.
“Thank you for sharing your plans with me. You are relocating from the United States to Bristol with two children and the dog, arriving in June 2027, and your plan is to stay somewhere temporary when you land before searching for a permanent home in person. That is the right order for a family, because it lets you see the areas before you commit to one and keeps the dog settled while you look. …”
Consultant summary continues in the full Blueprint
Signed off by Matthew Duckett, Founder & Director, on 27 October 2026Which area should we live in?
An area is a trade of rent against the commute, the schools and how you want to live, and nobody can make that trade for you from a map. The plan compares a shortlist of areas against your budget and your workplace, with real rent ranges and the commute from each, names the one to start with, and says which deserve a careful look before you commit.
Shops on Gloucester Road, Bristol - geograph.org.uk - 6265694 · © Derek Harper, CC BY-SA 2.0 · 2019
01SelectedBishopston BS7
Walkable neighbourhood, garden semis
Walk to Gloucester Road's independent shops and cafes, a quick bus to the office on hybrid days, and direct green space for the dog before school.
- Rent
Over your budget. £2,615 typical, £515 over your £2,100.
£2,615Typical asking rent LIVEMost 4-beds here list between £2,300 and £3,000.
From 15 live listings in BS7 8, read 26 Oct 2026.- To Bristol city centre
- About 15 min by car, weekday 8am (calculated 27 Oct 2026)
Hamilton Road · © Anthony O'Neil, CC BY-SA 2.0 · 2023
02Southville and Bedminster BS3
Creative neighbourhood, good green access
Morning walk on the green before the school run, an easy cycle or bus into the office, independent shops and pubs within walking distance in the evening.
- Rent
Over your budget. £2,940 typical, £840 over your £2,100.
£2,940Typical asking rent LIVEMost 4-beds here list between £1,040 and £3,300.
From 15 live listings around BS3, read 26 Oct 2026.- To Bristol city centre
- About 10 min by car, weekday 8am (calculated 27 Oct 2026)
Bristol Fryer, Horfield - geograph.org.uk - 6636765 · © Roger Cornfoot, CC BY-SA 2.0 · 2020
03Horfield and Filton BS34
Space and value in a family-friendly setting
Horfield Common for the morning dog walk, a straightforward bus into the centre on office days, and quieter residential streets for the school run.
- Rent
A stretch. £2,275 typical, £175 over your £2,100.
£2,275Typical asking rent LIVEMost 4-beds here list between £1,900 and £2,800.
From 62 live listings in BS34, read 27 Oct 2026.- To Bristol city centre
- About 20 min by car, weekday 8am (calculated 27 Oct 2026)
What rent can I afford in the UK?
Agents in England usually want your household income to be around thirty times the monthly rent, and the rent is only the start. Council tax, energy, water and broadband sit on top, and none of them is on the listing. The plan sets out the true monthly cost of a home in each of your areas, line by line, against what you have said you can spend, and what you pay before you get the keys.
Against your £2,100 a month: Bishopston is over, Southville and Bedminster is over, Horfield and Filton is a stretch.
- 01Selected
Bishopston BS7
Walkable neighbourhood, garden semis
Walk to Gloucester Road's independent shops and cafes, a quick bus to the office on hybrid days, and direct green space for the dog before school.
- Rent
Over your budget. £2,615 typical, £515 over your £2,100.
£2,615Typical asking rent LIVEMost 4-beds here list between £2,300 and £3,000.
From 15 live listings in BS7 8, read 26 Oct 2026.
“I chose these three areas because each one gives you a house with a garden for the dog and a manageable journey to the office in Bristol city centre. Your budget is tight for a four-bed in Bristol, so do not rule an area out on its typical rent. Four-beds in Bishopston list across a wide range, and the smaller or less updated ones come up within your reach. It sits at the top of the list because the walk to Gloucester Road, the green space for the dog before school, and the quick bus to the office all line up closely with what you told me you need day to day, and that combination is worth testing first before looking further afield. Keep Horfield as the area where your money goes furthest. Whichever area you settle on, you have a shortlist built around your family’s routine rather than a general sense of what Bristol offers.”
Can I rent in the UK with no credit history?
Yes, and most people arriving from abroad do. Referencing checks your income and your renting history, and with no UK record the agent will often ask for a UK guarantor. The plan tells you what you can offer instead, what a fair request looks like, and what the rules in England let an agent ask for.
When should I start looking for a home?
Later than you think, and earlier than you fear. Agents in England let homes a few weeks ahead, not months, so a listing you like in March will be gone by June. The plan puts your move on a timeline, week by week from today to your tenancy start, with each task dated against your arrival so you start viewings at the right moment and not before.
Your journey
0 of 42 tasks done- 01Lay the foundationsBudget and documents.10 open
- 02ArriveSomewhere to stay, a UK SIM and the first essentials.3 open
- 03Find your homeViewings, offer and tenancy.12 open
- 04Make it yoursSettling in and finding a routine.17 open
Some of these overlap — your plan keeps the order.
What do I need to do in the first weeks?
The bank, the GP, the council, the energy supplier, the broadband, the driving licence: each has its own order and its own paperwork, and some cannot start until another has finished. The plan lists your first weeks as tickable tasks in the right order, with template letters and the dates, so nothing is missed and nothing is done twice.
When you land 21 Jun–12 Jul
R.03Inside the plan
What your relocation plan covers
One plan for your move, drawn up around your budget, your workplace and your dates. Sections that do not apply to you are left out, never shown empty.
R.04The people
Who draws it up
Matthew Duckett, Founder & Director
Matthew founded Moovedin after sixteen years in UK property, much of it finding homes for people arriving from abroad. He draws up the relocation half of every Blueprint and reads it before it goes out. The call with Matthew is about your move: your areas, your numbers and the decisions in front of you.
Across the Moovedin team, more than thirty years in relocation and education.
Children coming? Adrian Duckett, Head of Schools and Education
Adrian leads the schools and education team at Moovedin and draws up the schooling half of every family’s Blueprint: year groups, routes, deadlines, the school search and the documents. Read the schools page.
R.05How we work
How we work
Not general information. Precise advice for your move: your budget, your commute, your dates.
WhatsApp the Moovedin team
R.06Prices
Prices
Pay once. Answer the relocation questions and your relocation plan is with you within one working day; if children are coming, your schools plan follows the schools questions.
Your plan, drawn up
- Your relocation plan: areas, costs, tenancy, paperwork
- Your schools plan, drawn up for each child
- WhatsApp the Moovedin team until two weeks after you move in
- Delivered within one working day of your answers
Call with Matthew
- A call with Matthew about your move
- For a judgement call the plan cannot make for you: an offer, a tenancy clause, a request from an agent
- Guidance on your areas, your numbers and your timing
Can be added at checkout with your Blueprint.
If anything is wrong, we put it right. Prices in pounds sterling. No subscription.
See everything the Blueprint includes, and the services around it →
WhatsApp support, right through your move.
From the day your Blueprint arrives until two weeks after you move in, message the Moovedin team with anything about your move and your home. Replies within a working day, Mon to Fri.
Your BlueprintWhatsApp support from the Moovedin team until two weeks after you move in.
Start with the free scorecard
Four minutes on where you are going, who is coming and when. The same Blueprint is one step from the result.
R.07FAQ
Questions families ask
Do you find the home for us?
No. The Blueprint is your plan, and the viewings, the offer and the tenancy are yours to make, because you are the one who has to live there. What we do is put the right areas in front of you with real numbers, tell you what to line up before you fly so an agent takes you seriously, and stay on WhatsApp until two weeks after you move in for anything that comes up on the way.
Can I rent a home before I arrive in the UK?
Rarely, and be careful of anyone who says yes without meeting you. Most agents want a viewing, in person or by video, a UK address for referencing and your Right to Rent check before a tenancy starts. The plan tells you what you can do from abroad, what waits until you land, and how to cover the weeks in between.
Do I need a UK guarantor?
Not always. An agent asks for one when referencing cannot see enough income or history, which is most people arriving from abroad. Since May 2026 an agent can ask for no more than one month's rent in advance, so paying ahead is no longer a way round it. Your plan says what you can offer instead.
Which parts of the UK do you cover?
England, for now. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each rent differently, with their own deposit schemes, tenancy types and council tax rules, and we draw up a plan only where our data is complete. If you are moving to one of them, the scorecard says so before you pay.