Where to Live When on a UK Working Holiday
Applying for a Working Holiday Visa in the UK is one of the most amazing ways to work abroad, explore the UK and save a strong currency at the same time. The last option, however, is only good if the money you earn abroad would be higher than what you would normally earn from your home country.
Let’s just say this is the case. Before you apply, there are some things you need to know about the working holiday UK programme.
It is now known as the UK Youth Mobility Visa that allows young people aged between 18 and 30 years old to live and work in the UK for up to 24 months.
- During your working holiday, you can study, work in most jobs, be self-employed or set up a company, provided that you open up shop in a rented premises, you don’t have employees, and use
equipment that is not worth more than £5,000. - What you can’t do with a Working Holiday Visa is to work as a professional sports person, doctor or dentist in training, unless you are UK qualified. You can’t extend your stay, get public funds,
or include family members in your application. - The UK Youth Mobility Visa is only available to citizens from
Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand.
Think you are qualified? You can then apply for a Working Holiday Visa. Once approved, your next concern would be deciding where to stay. To ensure that you make the most of your time in the UK you should choose a destination that enables you to save and travel as much as you can.
A great idea would be to apply for work that includesaccommodation, such as resort and hospitality jobs. Working in mountain resorts, hotels, lodges, pubs, theme parks, etc. may include accommodation as part of your work package. Although lodging may be shared with other employees, likely to be cramped or has limited facilities, the convenience and low cost outweighs the negative aspects.
One good example is the Thistle Camp in Scotland. If you work as a volunteer for a week, you will be given free entry to National Trust Properties in Scotland, Wales and England for an entire year through your Volunteer Card.
If you choose to stay in London, which is a magnet for very young people, expect to pay more on accommodation and other expenses. Not to worry though, since your salary is likely to be still higher than the national average. If you want to save on accommodation, you can always live south east of England, such as in Surrey Sussex or Hampshire, but the transportation cost would probably eat up what you could have saved in housing.
An alternative would be to live in cities where the commute to London would not cost you an arm and a leg. These include Shenfield, Woking, Stevenage, Hemel Hempstead, Chelmsford, Luton, Guildford, Crawley, Ashford and Basildon.
You can also choose to live in cities that are deemed affordable, based on thehouse price versus salary ratio. These include Belfast, Bradford, Durham, Glasgow, Lancaster, Lisburn, Londonderry, Newry, Stirling and Salford. Since your primary purpose is to work while on holiday, it is important that you first check the availability of employmentin a particular destination.
Sure, the salary may be higher than the housing cost, but what if there are no job vacancies that need to be filled?
Photo by Adam Marikar on Unsplash