Blimey - flat hunting, London and the weather

[matgb]

Right, last night, I went to see a place advertised in the cheap section of the Ham&High property guide.  Flatshare, sounded about what I'm looking for.  Was right next to a complete self contained flat for less than £300pcm in the same postcode district as this place, so the prices looked right.

Met the (slightly batty) lady as she walked back from the shops, helped her in with her shopping, and just looked at the main room.  It was gorgeous.  So I turned and said: Um, the price in the paper, £300.  That's not per month is it, it's per week.  She looked at me as if this was blitheringly obvious.  It never occured to me to check, it was in the cheap section, and I don't know the areas well enough. Still, nice cup of tea, long chat, I showed her what was wrong with her ad and why she wasn't getting any respondents (because, y'know, it was an ad suited for a cheap place, not a Really Nice Place.  then I helped her put it on a few websites I'd been looking at (although I can't see it live on gumtree so can't link).  Then she offered me commission if I found someone that wanted to take the room.

So, anyone want a room in Hampstead for £250-£300 per week?  Hampstead, ten minutes walk from two tube stops, quiet, broadband, huge room, private bathroom, off street parking, one shared tenant, nice but slightly batty?

Still, a few to visit today that look promising, two of them within 5 minutes walk of Mike's flat (not sure if that's a good thing) and at least I know the area.  Really liking it up here; might possibly be spending too little time looking for a place to live, and  a bit too much time simply wondering around and getting on and off at random tube stops. Oh, and book shops. Might be going into them too often as well.

Also, snow?  My car is covered, went to get some stuff from it earlier, and it's actually white.  I mean, I know that's the colour of the paint, but it hasn't been this white since a few days after I bought it.  What is this snow stuff, we don't get that in Devon Torquay (seriously, we don't, it all melts immediately).  Good job I'm not driving anywhere today.

ETA: Saw a place earlier, small room in shared house, dirt cheap, all bills paid, includes wireless broadband, can't be argued with, and it'll give me incentive to find somewhere bigger when I'm settled in witha steady income. Me happy.

Comments

[ginasketch.livejournal.com]

dayum. I was gonna say! £300.00 quid a month in london? I'm moving!!

Alas. This is reality.

[matgb]

Yup, £300 a month. It's about right for a shared room in a house, you'd pay a bit more if you wanted a nice size room.

Place I just took on? £300pcm, all bills, including wireless broadband, paid. That's cheaper than Devon. Admittedly, tiny room, but location is good and I can store stuff at Mike's, so I'm good.

London not as expensive as people make out as long as you don't expect the world. I'm happy.

[ginasketch.livejournal.com]

holy shit. It's gotta be done when i graduate.

[matgb]

Did I mention tiny room? It's only viable because nadriel's flat is ten minutes away, and he's got more storage space than he's using, so I can keep all the stuff we both like here.

But house/flat shares are the way to go; I've seen reasonably 3 bed places for about £1000 per month, divide that by 3 (or get a couple for one of the rooms) and it's a bargain compared to some other places, you just need to compromise and not live on your own, which I suspect is what I'll miss.

But yeah, graduate, move to London, and spend far too much time in Camden.

[silentgreeneyes.livejournal.com]

Yeah. welcome to winter in Places That Aren't Devon :P

we've got what is barely an inch of snow here. Most of it's melted, but has refrozen as clear ice on black tarmac paths.
Walking to uni this morning was.. fun to say the least :D

[innerbrat]

Bless your cotton socks.

[matgb]

The price was right for a flat/house share, honest.

It really was a nice place though. And I've just got a place, for the same price, so yay!

[innerbrat]

Oh yay, definitely yay.

I was blessing you for being the kind of person who whould stick around at a failed flat viewing and give the batty landlady advice and make work for yourself and go out of your way to help her out.

*pats you onna head*

[matgb]

Ah, fair enough. I just felt a little sorry for her, she's completely swamped by life and will lose the place without a tenant, she was really upset I wasn't going to save her from having to move out.

Besides, y'know, commission. Money=good, especialyl if it takes no work at all really. Now, if I knew a city commuter wanting somewhere 'cheap' to sleep during the week, then It'd be even easier.

[cyril-squirel.livejournal.com]

Hmmmmmm book shops lovely places, i just need more time off to try and read all the books they make me buy.

[matgb]

That's pretty much my problem, I buy them, then they never get read. I've been alright recently due to lots of train journeys, but still not getting as far as I should...

[el-staplador.livejournal.com]

Yes - I thought the problem would cease to be once I'd finished my degree and had time to read what I wanted to read, but things are no better. At the moment I'm reading a lot of library books, because that gives me an incentive to read them by next Tuesday or whatever. This policy has a fairly limited success rate, but the follow through ratio is considerably better than that of books I go so far as to buy.

[matgb]

I still have books nought more than two years ago still sat there. I may have to give up and sell them on unread. Heresy!

[publicansdecoy.livejournal.com]

Man, that is really quite staggeringly expensive. I live in a shared flat with my girlfriend in Lewisham, which is in Zone 2. We have a bedroom, livign room, bathroom and separate kitchen. It costs £600 pcm. I suspect your Hampstead lady will struggle to find anyone to take that room. But then, north Londoners do seem prepared to may much more crazy rents than us in the south.

-x-

[caramel-betty.livejournal.com]

Deborah Ross (http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_m_z/deborah_ross/article11294.ece) explains that:

Aside from anything else, we also plan to give South London away, because there is just no point to it

She also once wrote a fabulous piece of The Spectator, while reviewing a burger restaurant, about how she felt that south London should be demolished, so that she could extend north London into it. She then saw people waddling into the KFC over the road, and decided that they should be moved into south London before the demolition.

This is a plan with zero flaws, no?

[matgb]

Well, apart from I've just taken on a place down here as well.

Still, nice that the Indy is now linkable, a bit late to the party but good anyway.

[publicansdecoy.livejournal.com]

Idiots like her are actually doing me a favor, I suppose. So long as south London continues to be perceived as 'undesirable' (except for Dulwich, I imagine) our rents will continue to be much lower. Cheers, Deborah. Your one-eyed ranting is helping the very people you despise!

-x-

[matgb]

It's actually quite cheap compared to some of the places I've seen advertised, and, seriously, you could fit a normal flat into just the living room, it was huge...

Still, I've just rented a place for 300pcm all inclusive, Wimbledon/Raynes Park area, so I'm happy, it's a bit small, one room in a shared house with a nice kitchen, but it'll do, and when I'm settled in I can look for something better/someone to share with, which was always the plan.

[missedith01.livejournal.com]

S'long as the communal areas are good, that's the main thing in a shared house, I think.

[pinkshifter.livejournal.com]

we must meet up soon :) or make that actually meet :) I'd offer the guided tour of Cowley Street but they're really isnt anything that interesting there. :)

[matgb]

Well, I could do my address change notification in person. And yes, meeting you (and Dave, for that matter) would be good.

Hmm, now I need to contact Merton LDs and see if there's owt I can do. Next week. Maybe.

[pinkshifter.livejournal.com]

You're in luck there - the former chair of Merton LD's works in Cowley St as assistant candidates officer. I'm sure she could put you in touch with someone in the local area. I did the same for Dave who is also in the same borough :) If you're up for a spot of volunteering I could certainly use some help at any point in the next few weeks in the run up to Federal Conference :)

[matgb]

Well, apart from moving and job hunting, I'll be at a pretty much loose end, so helping out definately an option.

I take the place on Saturday morning, and Ill need to do the obligatory registrations with job centres, agencies, etc, but once I'm in I'll give you a shout re both.

If someone badgers me, I might actually get some party work done now I'm up here, apart from sit on a few comitteees I've not done much for ages, which is wrong.

[pinkshifter.livejournal.com]

Excellent stuff - I shall look forward to it. Am currently knee deep in conference stuff :)

[pshtaku.livejournal.com]

£300 pw is taking the psh. That's more than my mortgage and a 1st class travelcard from MK!

Glad you've found somewhere! How's the job hunting going?

[davidnm.livejournal.com]

Aaahm you've found somewhere! Congratulations! Did you see any really odd/weird properties while you were viewing?

[malkavelli.livejournal.com]

Grat son a place you like, what are the other tenants like? Any danger of a flat warming ?