r/Glasgow Tools

Title
Author	malstroem
Comment	You might struggle to find a 2 bed flat for short term rent as 2 foreign students. Most flats will require that you have employment or a UK based guarantor - the not entirely legal work around is to offer 3-6 months of rent up front but even that doesn't always work. [Rightmove.co.uk](https://Rightmove.co.uk) or [gumtree.com](https://gumtree.com) are good places to look though. You can look at student accommodation, it's pretty expensive in my experience though. Alternatively, check out [spareroom.co.uk](https://spareroom.co.uk), you might even be able to find a flatshare with 2 available rooms. It's usually a lot easier to rent a room than a flat. I don't know where you're from and your cultural norms but I got a few surprises when I first moved to the UK. You often can't get accommodation sorted a long time in advance. They'll often expect you to move in within a week or two of you getting in touch. And you can move in on random days of the month, doesn't have to be at the beginning or the end. Before the pandemic, it was pretty common for EU citizens to move into AirBnb or a hostel for the first 2 weeks while looking at flats, it's normally possible to view a place and move in within that time. Furthermore, you need a UK address (and proof of it, which can be hard to get!) to get a bank account, and you need a bank account to get a UK address. It's a struggle. Some international student bank accounts will let you open one just with your passport though, for a monthly fee. Giffgaff is usually the cheapest mobile provider. Internet is usually on a 12 or 24 month contract, and impossible to get out of. Another reason to rent rooms instead of a flat. Let me know if you have any other questions ;) I don't know Glasgow that well but I know way too much about what it's like to move to the UK as a foreigner.
Reddit Link	https://www.reddit.com/r/glasgow/comments/mv1iak/looking_for_student_rental_in_glasgow_scotland/gv98j6x/
Created	Tue 20th Apr 2021 11:10pm
Status	normal ()

You might struggle to find a 2 bed flat for short term rent as 2 foreign students. Most flats will require that you have employment or a UK based guarantor - the not entirely legal work around is to offer 3-6 months of rent up front but even that doesn't always work. [Rightmove.co.uk](https://Rightmove.co.uk) or [gumtree.com](https://gumtree.com) are good places to look though.

You can look at student accommodation, it's pretty expensive in my experience though. Alternatively, check out [spareroom.co.uk](https://spareroom.co.uk), you might even be able to find a flatshare with 2 available rooms. It's usually a lot easier to rent a room than a flat.

I don't know where you're from and your cultural norms but I got a few surprises when I first moved to the UK. You often can't get accommodation sorted a long time in advance. They'll often expect you to move in within a week or two of you getting in touch. And you can move in on random days of the month, doesn't have to be at the beginning or the end. Before the pandemic, it was pretty common for EU citizens to move into AirBnb or a hostel for the first 2 weeks while looking at flats, it's normally possible to view a place and move in within that time.

Furthermore, you need a UK address (and proof of it, which can be hard to get!) to get a bank account, and you need a bank account to get a UK address. It's a struggle. Some international student bank accounts will let you open one just with your passport though, for a monthly fee.
Giffgaff is usually the cheapest mobile provider.
Internet is usually on a 12 or 24 month contract, and impossible to get out of. Another reason to rent rooms instead of a flat.

Let me know if you have any other questions ;) I don't know Glasgow that well but I know way too much about what it's like to move to the UK as a foreigner.