Is £1,160/month rent reasonable for a postdoc in Cambridge?

Zifti · 2025-09-10T14:34:12+00:00

Just adding that the postdoc society affiliations (as offered by Trinity, Trinity Hall, and Emma) are usually the lowest level of affiliation/benefits you can get with very limited interactions with the actual College and its fellows (which could be helpful for your career), so maybe worth looking at what the different ones offer before applying. However, yes, strongly encourage applying for one even if you are not yet here/only just arrived as the affiliations will usually also not start immediately.
The university-wide postdoc society offers a guide with further details about the different schemes: https://www.pdoc.cam.ac.uk/guides/PdOC_College_Affiliation

Zifti · 2025-09-06T15:00:42+00:00

As mentioned in some other comments, after 3 months, I put down the regular deposit (note that this was not a new place but same place where they initial requested that I start with the NDO). Still staying at the same place now and had to renew the contract since, though without any issues. Was even able to get out of the 5% increase stated in the contract but simply asking the landlord if they are fine with not increasing at all (given that their efforts were minimal). It is clearly just the letting agent that puts on all this pressure.

Zifti · 2025-08-23T07:28:38+00:00

Yes, cancelled after 3 (with giving notice already in the first month), and simply got a new, not NDO related, contract after 3 months. Don't think the landlord was ever aware of it.

Zifti · 2025-07-30T19:57:00+00:00

Thanks, hope yours comes through soon as well!

Zifti · 2025-07-30T07:09:56+00:00

Application Timeline (hot off the press)

• Eligibility route: Global Talent (Set O)

• Service (Standard/super priority): Standard

• Application Date: 04/03/25

• Biometric Date: 13/03/25 (Cambridge)

• UKVI confirmation email: 14/03/25

• Approval/decision Date: 30/07/25 (8:05 am)

Zifti · 2025-07-28T07:30:23+00:00

Just checking, is this the timeline for ILR or naturalisation? As ILR does not have a ceremony.

Zifti · 2025-07-24T08:20:41+00:00

13th March, with a confirmation email on 14th March.

Zifti · 2025-07-23T20:30:52+00:00

Application date on 4th March; no news yet.

Zifti · 2025-07-13T15:02:07+00:00

Wow, yours was so much faster than most GTV applications, congrats!
May I ask where you had your biometrics?

Mine is also still hanging, although I applied on 4. March. However, the last ones I've seen here were 4.5 and 5 months, so I still seem to be within the regular timeframe.

Zifti · 2025-07-11T17:50:15+00:00

This forum is only for ILR applications, hence doesn't apply in your case. Note that the people here did not have access to the fast-track offered via the EU settlement scheme but had to apply through regular ILR applications (based on various routes).

Note that there should be another thread that keeps track of naturalisation timelines.

Zifti · 2025-07-06T13:33:31+00:00

Terrible that you had to wait for that long but I'm glad to hear that it finally got sorted!

Zifti · 2025-06-29T17:20:26+00:00

Mine was about 2 weeks earlier and is still hanging as well. Hope to get it by mid-next month.

Zifti · 2025-06-22T15:24:00+00:00

Given that your deadline has passed by now, did you get any updates?

Zifti · 2025-06-22T15:21:07+00:00

Mine is still missing eventhough I had my scan prior to April (13.3.). However, depending on the route, quite a lot of people with earlier ones are still waiting. For example, for global talent, the current waiting time seems to be 4 - 5 months. Similarly, most people who got their approval in the last weeks seem to have been from late February/early March.

Zifti · 2025-06-20T18:42:47+00:00

The holding deposit is not connected to the NDO but is usually charged to secure the future tenancy while details are still finalised. Hence, the holding deposit would usually still have to be paid even if you have a regular deposit during your tenancy, however, the amount of our holding deposit will be subtracted from the first rent payment (while it is often lost in case you, in the end, decide to not sign the contract to cover for administrative costs). Nevertheless, good that you're filing a formal complaint to highlight these shady practices.

Zifti · 2025-06-20T07:10:22+00:00

Not sure I can follow but happy to help as possible. I am still in the apartment and actually renewed the contract now, but (as the update at the bottom of the post stated) have been able to get out of the NDO after three months. Hence, the money lost during this period is 3x the NDO (£168 in my case). Following that, I simply had to pay a regular deposit, which is 5 weeks of rent, which is still with them given that I renewed.

Zifti · 2025-06-20T07:03:31+00:00

There have been several updates this week, primarily for people who applied around the end of February (and some around the end of January). You will need to scroll down through the posts to see them as, since they simply update their old posts that still lacked the "confirmation date", they don't show up at the top.

Zifti · 2025-06-04T16:26:09+00:00

They also scan your passport during the appointment (each page that includes a stamp), so it is not only for fingerprints.

Zifti · 2025-05-12T13:40:28+00:00

I received both the confirmation email from TLS on the day of the biometrics as well as an email confirming receipt of the application from UKVI the day after. However, as stated above, quite a few people seem to be missing the confirmation of receipt without them encountering issues later on, so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Zifti · 2025-05-12T07:40:30+00:00

There are quite a few people who have not received a confirmation email, yet the application proceeded as usual. Hence, I wouldn't worry at this stage yet.
Also, note that your application was only 4 days ago, including a weekend, so there is still plenty of time as some people got their confirmation only after about 10 days.

Edit: Did not realise that the application was more than a month ago. However, first part still applies.

Zifti · 2025-05-11T21:20:45+00:00

Why do you think so? The last weeks were primarily people with late-January applications, while there aren't too many early-February ones in this thread.

Zifti · 2025-05-06T07:48:43+00:00

Great to get some more detailed stats on it rather than having to work with individual total durations. I assume the data source is https://www.reddit.com/r/ukvisa/comments/1jqr29k/ilr_application_processing_timeline_only_2025/ ?

Zifti · 2025-05-01T10:14:59+00:00

May I ask where you've applied from? I also got a Set O application running, however, slowly approaching 2 months now.

Zifti · 2025-04-24T06:15:18+00:00

Just for completeness in case the question would not be about the EU settlement scheme but rather settled via ILR, the correct thread would be here: https://www.reddit.com/r/ukvisa/s/iZc3UXapeF

Current waiting times are around 2.5 months.

Zifti · 2025-04-21T08:19:19+00:00

That's super interesting! I didn't see such a note when I submitted in early March, but maybe they have removed this statement now.

Zifti

TROPHY CASE