Settling back in the UK

Along side work was the need to find somewhere to live. While we had money tied up in Spain we would need to find somewhere to rent. Having worked in the Estate Agency business for over 20 years I have seen the trends where numbers of properties to rent increases as the sale market reduces. This was good news for us looking for a nice house in a nice area for a long term rental.

There were 2 things that would be a major issue in finding a suitable property - firstly, that we have 2 dogs and secondly, that we needed somewhere to either site or store the hottub which was definitely coming back from Spain with us.

The main concern was our dogs. They needed a secure rear garden, close to some good dog walking areas. As with Recruitment Agencies being a barrier to finding work, the Estate Agents can be a barrier to finding a suitable property.

The majority of agents make a standard clause on rental properties that simply states, no smokers, no pets, no DSS. And depending on who you speak to in the agents this is an unmoveable clause. But, if you put an offer to the agent they should relay this to the owner. I found a number of houses that were worth considering and all of the owners except one agreed to the dogs on the basis that I had offered them an increased bond against damages and that we would have any carpets cleaned on our departure.

Indeed, the one owner that initially said no, actually changed his mind and said he would permit the dogs so, it paid off knowing how to approach the agents on this.

The choice was made by where had storage for the hottub. There was potential for it to go in the garden but in the end we stored it in the garage for the first year.

I managed to find the house on my fact finding trip in May. The contract needed sorting out and that was not so easy to do while living in Spain, however the agent worked with me on proof of ID etc and we managed to get every thing in place for our return. We picked the keys up 2 days after arriving back in the UK. We had somewhere to live and somewhere for our furniture to be delivered to.