I think if you pay years rent in advance then it would make things easier. But just as a matter of interest, why do you wan to move to Devon and what sort of job would you be doing there? Reason I am asking is that we did exactly the same thing last year and from London moved to Exeter, only difference would be that we even bought a house there. But there is so much shortage of jobs in Devon that for a year I could not get a proper job. I at that time, was accountant with ten years experience. In the end we decided to sell the house again and moved back to London. Luckily we did not sell the house in London and instead let it out. Sorry do not mean to discourage you at all but just telling about my own experience. Oh yeah handy men are really in demand there, especially plumbers.