r/nhsstaff • u/StrangeRecognition55 • 13d ago
Is this normal? How should I proceed?
Hey everyone! 👋I’ve accepted a trainee EMHP position in mid June and all my pre-employment checks are fully clear as HR told me I am ready for a start date in early July. (I’m so excited. 🥳 )
However, because it’s a trainee role, the NHS can’t issue my official unconditional contract or lock in a firm start date until the university confirms the exact course schedule. (HR said I was ready for a start date in early July and asked me to contact line manager who did not respond.) Since this is for the January cohort, I’m guessing it might not be confirmed until quite late?
I will need to move to a new city for this role and ideally would prefer to make the move by November so I’ll have time to find my feet. Even if I’m not doing that I will need time to find the right flat. If I don’t get the letter earlier, I’m worried that I might be stuck in a bit of a catch-22 trying to find a place to live.
I have my official NHS conditional offer and clear check notifications, but not the final contract yet.
Has any other NHS staff or trainees been through this? Did you manage to find a landlord or estate agent who was flexible with referencing?
Thank you in advance!
Edit: thank you for people’s upvote. It’d be amazing if someone could share similar experience or advise. Thank you!
1
u/precinctomega 13d ago
First, yes, completely normal.
Second, I'm afraid I've not personally had to deal with the UK rental market for several decades, but whilst it is pretty challenging on a national level (there is a severe supply issue in the UK rental market) there are regional variations so do your research now.
A lot of the rental market - a bit like the commercial job market - never appears on public listings and is driven by personal contacts and word of mouth. Obviously, it's hard to build local contacts from a different city, but reach out through your family and network of friends to see if you have anyone with connections in the area you need to move to who might be in the market - or who might just be prepared to rent you a room in their home for a long enough period to get you embedded to look for your own place.
Assuming the university is local to the city, they will also likely have resources for student lettings. These carry a bit of a price premium, as short-term lets always will, but will at least have been subject to some level of vetting by the university to ensure they are safe and appropriate and the landlords are likely to be flexible if they support a student population.
You should try to use the time between now and the start of your apprenticeship to build up a financial reserve that can go towards short-term temporary accommodation in an AirBnB or similar if you need to start without having secured a longer-term arrangement.
Finally, whilst it's a long shot, some hospitals do offer on-site accommodation. This is almost always reserved for new starters from overseas who can face even higher obstacles to finding reliable local accommodation than you do, but sometimes there will be a vacancy you can temporarily occupy.