Opeaning a bank account in the U.K?

I am planning to move to the U.K from the Republic of Ireland, more than likely to London and apparently I need a bank account before I can do anything. I thought having a valid visa would make things easy but of course anti terrorist laws have made things more difficult for law abiding people. I have a number of questions if anybody would be kind enough to answer them.
I want to set up a U.K bank account before I move so I don't have to stay in a hostel or hotel and can rent a flat straight away. I can not rent a flat without a bank account and can not get a bank account without an address or utility bills. I know their is ways around getting the address like bowering one and then setting up a telephone landline using the address but this sounds dodgy. So does anyone have advice in regard to this?
I looked into the HSBC passport account and you still need a U.K address and utility bills to activate it which is slightly stupid considering its aimed at people like me.
Is it possible to Flat Share in London in a relatively good flat without a U.K bank account paying in cash upfront and then waiting for the correct documentation before I open an account? Is this advisable?
I am a recent University graduate and although I have good qualifications I have no work experience thus I should be looking for work along the lines of restaurant or pub work. I plan to do a masters part time in London before getting a better job.
I plan to have between £5000 to £6000 in savings to keep me going until I get things sorted out but I am not sure if this will be enough?
I also know nobody in London.
If anyone could answer my questions I would be grateful

You don't need a bank account to pay for a flat. I moved to England from the states and the landlord was fine with me paying him for the first month from my American bank account, then the next month with cash (then I got a basic bank account from HSBC).

I'm pretty sure all of the bank accounts require proof of address in the form of utility bills.

Regarding your savings, it was more than I had and I was doing ok. Not to say that I lived a luxurious life style but I was able to afford the basics.

Thanks for the advice. I plan to fly over to get a flat share accommodation in London and then fly back to Ireland while the landlord gets things sorted out. The reason I was concerned was that I read most property to let in London is done by agencies but if you are correct I should have no problem. I have a cousin who made a move to Scotland to study and according to him it was difficult to get things sorted out. I am moving to London because Ireland got hit very badly by the recession. The worst in western Europe, so bad it is now embarrassing to be Irish. We screwed ourselves over. Its just lucky I have no financial commitments so I can immigrate hassle free.

GeneralSkoda wrote:Thanks for the advice. I plan to fly over to get a flat share accommodation in London and then fly back to Ireland while the landlord gets things sorted out. The reason I was concerned was that I read most property to let in London is done by agencies but if you are correct I should have no problem. I have a cousin who made a move to Scotland to study and according to him it was difficult to get things sorted out. I am moving to London because Ireland got hit very badly by the recession. The worst in western Europe, so bad it is now embarrassing to be Irish. We screwed ourselves over. Its just lucky I have no financial commitments so I can immigrate hassle free.

Have a look on gumtree for flat share, might be of some use to you and most of them are cash in hand. You could always just use that as a stop gap until you get a bank account sorted and then get something through an agency if you wanted.

That's a great suggestion meats, gum tree saved me quite a few times in terms of finding a reasonably priced flat in a short amount of time.