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Ah, housing is a b!tch in the UK, isn't it?

Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2014 2:25 pm
by Knightdramon
Long story short, after 11 months of doing odds and ends since setting foot, managed to get a "proper" good paying job.

Right around the time my housemate gave me a month's notice. Timings like that used to come only in fairytales or "feel good" comedy family movies.

The thing is, unless you want to sacrifice 9/10ths out of your salary, you either have to let something veeeeeeeeeery small and almost unfurnished, or lodge again.

Which is especially hard in York, a town so small like 7/10 of it is students, and half the town is too far away from work to make it by walking.

Anybody was in a similar circumstance, ever? A sensible option would be to find sth cheap to lodge again, save up for a couple of months, and get a "proper" apartment that I can furnish as I want. I'm not very for this option as I've had extremely bad experiences being a lodger, however, you never know.

Advice/similar stories?

Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2014 1:24 pm
by angloconvoy
If you think the UK's tough you wouldn't even want to know about Japan.
Last time I was in a similar situation I moved into an affordable apartment and lived with bare minimum furniture, which I then added to/replaced as I could afford it.

Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2014 2:57 pm
by inflatable dalek
I wound up having to move back in with my mother when my brother, whom I'd been flat sharing with before, dared to get married and decided he'd rather live with his wife than me. The git.

I could in theory save up and move out again, but it would basically be a fugal existence by myself so it's a case of just putting up with my increasing insane mother (today she declared Iron Man 3 to be anti-Semitic because it seems in her mind "Cockney" and "Jewish" are apparently interchangeable...) and cat.

Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2014 7:42 pm
by Knightdramon
angloconvoy wrote:If you think the UK's tough you wouldn't even want to know about Japan.
Last time I was in a similar situation I moved into an affordable apartment and lived with bare minimum furniture, which I then added to/replaced as I could afford it.
Exactly my plan as well. House just has the bare minimum.

@Dalek---oh the nerve on that man...did he DARE to get married? :lol:

Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2014 9:43 pm
by electro girl
A tip for renting in York. Do not rent from 2Let Agency, very bad service. I could go on and on but all you have to do is check out their online reviews and you can see for yourself how people feel about them.

Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2014 7:21 am
by Knightdramon
Nah, went with Hunters. First time ever using an agency, and of the ones I saw, it's the only agency that doesn't want to have sex with your bottom while discussing their fees :lol:

Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2014 7:23 am
by Sades
So what I get from this thread is that bumsex is part and parcel with renting a living space in the UK.

I'm looking at you all with different eyes now.

Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2014 7:30 am
by Skyquake87
Sades wrote:So what I get from this thread is that bumsex is part and parcel with renting a living space in the UK.

I'm looking at you all with different eyes now.
I would just like to say we own our house.

I suppose renting in the UK is like anywhere else in the world- expensive, and you might end up with a crappy landlord and/ or letting agent.

Agents I tend to find in my line of work a bit unhelpful at jogging along any infrastructure problems tenants have, not all but there are quite a few that don't really understand that inertia creates a lot of problems.

Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2014 7:49 am
by Sades
Skyquake87 wrote:I would just like to say we own our house.
I don't even want to know what was required to get that far.

Canada, it depends on where you are. We lucked out and are renting a moderately priced 2 bedroom apartment (that still being over $1000/mnth CAD) in a not-entirely-shit area of town.

What gets me is that in 2005, I was living in a shared 3 bedroom apt and our rent was $750. What a difference 9 years makes.

Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2014 12:47 pm
by electro girl
Sades wrote:So what I get from this thread is that bumsex is part and parcel with renting a living space in the UK.

I'm looking at you all with different eyes now.
So much bumming involved, it is unreal. They tried the most bumming after my housemates and I had moved out and they tried giving us a massive repair bill. Luckily they lowered it after we called them on their bullshit but it was still more bumming than I wanted.

Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2014 4:23 pm
by inflatable dalek
Sades wrote:I don't even want to know what was required to get that far.

Skyquake gets to be the bummer.

Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2014 5:01 pm
by Knightdramon
Nah, renting in the UK [from my experience] is even more expensive and difficult than most other places.

Which is probably why houseshares between "strangers" is so common even with people in their 30ies.

Or even lodging. Lodging does not exist in Greece. It took me about 10 minutes each time to explain to somebody that I was just essentially renting a ROOM in a place.

Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 12:09 am
by Heinrad
Lodging works well, as long as you're lodging with good people. The first person I lodged with(while going through chemo) saw me as a free car and housekeeper so she could maintain her unemployed lifestyle and pay her mortgage. After she decided she could get more money from somebody else, she kicked me out. I moved in with a friend from high school who gave me half her house, which worked fine..... right up to the point she met a nice guy and decided to sell her house. I'm now renting a room with somebody who works at the same place I do, and it's working well.

Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 5:17 pm
by Knightdramon
LOL my track record

House1--move in with family, limited space but no issues whatsoever
House2--lodged with a woman who practically wanted the extra cash but not the extra person. So yeah even though I was [at the time] on very limited income I was expected to be out of the house most of the day and basically spend my time sleeping in and that's it.
House3--a lot like your house1. Good-ish people, but very unclear on their terms of lodging [thought I was houseSHARING], once they got wind I got a proper job and knew I wouldn't keep paying this rent for this room, they just advertised the room without telling me and having viewings while I was away at work, without telling.

So goodbye to all these :wave: