“We need nurses but we don’t have anywhere to house them” – Does this sound like a familiar problem to you?

One of the challenges of international recruitment is where to house your healthcare professionals when they arrive in the UK. Finding accommodation for a large number of people in a crowded housing market can be tricky, but some creative thinking and a flexible approach can make it easier than you think.

Hospital Accommodation

The first choice option for many employers is to house new staff in their own staff accommodation – the advantage of this is that it is often very convenient to the location where they are working, the rooms are purpose-built, and there is more of an opportunity to meet neighbours with similar lifestyles and interests.

Typically this type of accommodation is available on a relatively short-term basis, and allows employees to have a comfortable and affordable place to stay whilst they search for accommodation for a longer-let.

However, there are sometimes long waiting lists for this accommodation, and it is not always available when it is needed. Accordingly, other options need to be considered.

Local host families:

Homestay accommodation gives international healthcare professionals the chance to live with a host family, and experience the warm welcome associated with living in a real home. It has several advantages in terms of helping your new employee integrate into British life, make friends, have social interaction outside of their work, and also enable them to experience the local culture. It is not unusual for homestay hosts to go the extra mile and take their guests on exploring excursions or introduce them to acquaintances with similar interests. It can also work out to be very cost-effective. (Please note it can be arranged for homestay hosts to provide some meals as part of their accommodation package, so this is a service you may also want to explore.)

A couple of different approaches can be taken here. Either a new employee can be placed with a native British host, or you could seek a host with the nationality of the employee e.g. a Filipino host family for a Filipino nurse. The advantage of the former is potentially a more ‘authentically’ British experience and a greater opportunity for the employee to develop their English language skills. However, there can be benefits of placing employees with a host of the same nationality – individuals may feel more at home with a host from a similar background who understands some of the cultural acclimatisation they are experiencing. Both approaches are equally valid, but you may want to offer both options to your new starts as their arrival date approaches as ultimately it can be down to personal preference.

If you do opt to go for a homestay host, there are some key things that you may want to consider:

• If you are responsible for matching employees with host families, you may want to first ‘vet’ your homestays. Is it in a decent residential area? Are there good links to public transport? Is the host doing it for the right reasons? Is it clean? Is the bedroom clean? Are there adequate catering facilities? Does the host have any preferences you need to take into consideration? There is no legal requirement to conduct a criminal record check, but if you are keen to build a homestay host network, and work with specific hosts on a long-term basis, this may be a helpful reassurance of their compatibility.
• Often an international relocation package will cover the cost of the first month’s accommodation, but it may be worthwhile investigating whether the employee or homestay host is interested in a longer-term arrangement as this sometimes works out to be mutually beneficially to both parties. Certainly an initial three to six month arrangement can often work well for international nurses who are waiting to sit their OSCE and get their visa confirmed, before they commit to longer-term accommodation arrangements. However, you may want to have an “opt-out” clause built into the accommodation arrangement in case there is a clash of personalities.
• You can opt to go via a commercial homestay organisation (there are plenty online – including homestayfinder.com; www.homestay.com/united-kingdom; www.ukguests.co.uk) or you could place an advert in local advertising channels. Commercial organisations tend to be quicker, but will take a cut of the cost and sometimes work out more expensive.

Longer lets for temporary accommodation: Think Air Bnb or similar!

If you’re looking to find local accommodation for a month or two, another option to consider is taking a longer-term let with a company like Air BnB or HomeAway. Many hosts provide longer-let options, at very affordable prices. This gives you a bit more flexibility in terms of dates, size of space (useful when employees are relocating with their families) and the added benefit of having a review-based system to provide more confidence in the standard of accommodation.

Simply put in the accommodation dates you are looking for, adjust the budget accordingly, and see what’s available! Just be aware that longer lets typically have fairly strict cancellation policies whereby you are committed to paying the first 30 days upfront. That said, you can achieve good weekly and monthly discounts by doing it this way and there are often good options available at the last minute (although obviously the earlier you book, the more choice you have of accommodation and price).

Rent a house privately and sublet the rooms

If you’re short of staff accommodation, you could augment your supply by renting properties privately and then sub-letting the rooms to personnel, providing this arrangement is satisfactory to the landlord.

The big advantage of offering accommodation this way is that typically it allows you to provide accommodation to staff at a more affordable rate than you or they could achieve by going directly to the commercial market. You have the option to choose a location convenient to your new recruit’s place of work, and it provides an opportunity to house personnel with other employees in similar circumstances. You also have the potential to have the property managed to avoid it becoming too much of an administrative burden (although the additional paperwork of sub-letting would need to be agreeable to the relevant agency). It allows flexibility on duration of stay, and can even work out to be profitable if an individual is given the option to stay on beyond the point you are paying for their accommodation as part of their relocation package. This is definitely an attractive option to staff who are still waiting to have their visa confirmed, and don’t want to start looking for private, long-term accommodation as soon as they arrive in the UK, just as they are just settling into their new roles.

However, if you as an employer are renting the property, you will still have to pay the rent regardless of whether all the rooms are filled, and you may also be responsible for damage to the property, and ensuring it is kept in a good state of repair – a communal cleaner is often advisable in such situations!

Outsource responsibility to an agency

A number of international medical staffing agencies will offer healthcare employers the opportunity to co-ordinate private accommodation for newly relocated professionals on their behalf, as part of a relocation package arrangement.

The advantage of this approach is that it saves you time because you simply let the agency arrange the logistics around the arrival and departure date and you don’t need to worry about house-hunting, maintenance, insurance, or the day-to-day admin of accommodation. These agencies often include other helpful services as part of their package including organising social events to help employees settle into British life, and supporting them with other aspects of daily living in the UK such as registering with a GP, navigating the local area and transport links, and opening a bank account.

Typically agencies will charge a fee to cover the costs of their time and expertise, however you can usually work to an agreed budget and there tends to be flexibility around how you work together.

Summary

In conclusion, you have a number of options which are available to you when planning accommodation for relocating healthcare professionals. Things to think about before you opt for a specific approach are:

• Budget – are you doing it on a shoestring or do you have the capacity to go to more commercial providers?
• Employee preference – would they prefer to live with a family or other professionals or independently?
• Personal situation of employee – are they relocating alone or with a family?
• The amount of notice you have of the arrival date of the employee – the more notice you have, the more options you can offer.
• Your level of confidence in the arrival date of the employee – this impacts on the flexibility of your accommodation arrangements, and your cancellation options.
• Interest in longer term accommodation – If a new recruit wants to stay on at the property on a longer-term basis, is there the opportunity for them to do this?
• Administrative and time burden – How much time do you have to dedicate to the accommodation arrangements?
• Commercial interest – Is accommodation provision a service you could scale to make it revenue-making and worthy of your time investment?
• What else you are looking for – Are there other relocation services you are interested in other than accommodation, such as provision of social activities. If so, sometimes third party providers offer packages that can be helpful.

We wish you luck with your accommodation strategy! Please feel free to comment with specific questions, or to share your own experiences of providing accommodation for international professionals.

Info:

My Healthcare Recruit supports UK healthcare employers in the public, private, and care sector to find international nurses who are a great fit for their organisation, by using market-leading video-tools to connect them to our database of qualified candidates. Our innovative approach makes international candidates easier to find, and more cost-effective to source. Find out more at www.myhealthcarerecruit.com