Okay i’m not homeless homeless (living on the streets out of a cardboard box) since i have my sister’s couch to crash on and can always skitter on over to the girfriend’s when i feel the need for a nice warm bed but i am still “without home”.
I won’t go into the details, suffice to say that i got kicked out of the place i was renting through no fault of my own and due to circumstances outside of my control. The net result is, however, that i am now having to househunt.
Which i hate doing with a passion.
Basically i’m sh*t-hot at the things you need to do when you find a place (how to negotiate contracts, what to look out for e.g. gas certificates, how to change locks etc. etc.) but i suck at actually searching for places.
So I’m putting out an appeal to LonDopers and Ex-LonDopers everywhere:
Whether its general advice, suggested Letting Agents to try, adverts spotted in local papers etc. etc.
Anything.
"HELP ME FIND SOMEWHERE TO LIVE!"
the “need to know” facts are as follows:
The Players
Garius: A 23 year old male Web-Developer. Kicked out of his house a few weeks ago.
Budget: 400pcm inclusive (max)
GariBestMate: A 23 year old male advertising salesman. kicked out of his house two months ago. Moved back home - now on verge of killing parents.
Budget: 300pcm inclusive (max)
The Mission
Find somewhere to live.
It could be:
two studio places relatively close to each other (a possibilty)
a houseshare (unpleasant but we’ll do it - its a shame we don’t know anyone else househunting)
3)a two-bed place (a “Pigs might fly” eventuality given our budget).
The Rules
Ideally no further out than zone 4
Easily commutable to central London (Where we both work)
Just a quick word from someone who working in a council housing office for about 6 months.
I know you didn’t ask about this, but I’m going to say it anyway in case there are others who are in the same boat as you, reading this.
You can put you’re name on the housing list, but you’ll have about zero priority, because as you have somewhere to live with immediate family, you won’t be classed as homeless.
yeah i work in government too and have mates at various housing offices.
They all say the same thing - there is no way i could clock up enough points to get a council place - i earn a decent wage, i have no dependents, i can (like you say) live with relatives etc. etc.
I know your list said that it must be north of the river, but if you’re willing to be a bit flexible I’d suggest having a look around Lewisham. I lived down there for about five years and it’s not so bad. It’s pretty well connected as well (DLR, Tube, Rail etc) if you’re near the high street. Cheap, too.
Pretty much everyone I know lives either a short way south of the river or much, much further to the north. I just split the difference and moved to Holborn.
Hmm. Next door to me is up for rent. They want £750 per month but the last tenants paid £650.
Of course, it’s just outside Dorking and hence doesn’t pefectly fulfil the criteria. But on the plus side, you’d get to live next door to me. Unless I move, of course. Who knows what the future will bring? Not I. What do you think I am, some kind of medium or something? Well actually I do tend to take a medium. But sometimes it feels a bit tight. Like now, which is why I’m back on my diet. Detoxing. I’d kill for some proper food right now, actually. Mmmm cake.
What do you mean you don’t want to live next door to me?
i’m beginning to see why the place next door to you is empty, kabbes
And personally i’d kill to live in holburn - since its where i work
Slightly south of the river isn’t a problem. Its just that it would have to be zone 2 or 3 - anywhere further out and we are no better off than we were in twickenham.
the problem we have with living further out is travel costs - they become extortianate. The cost of commuting each day is impossibly high.
Well, Lewisham’s right on the zone 2/3 border (counts as zone 2 if you’re heading inwards though). I used to get a train every morning from St John’s station (a dismal little concrete pad one stop up from Lewisham) to Cannon St. 15 minute ride and there I was in the heart of the city.
I have, over the years, spent a lot of time in south London. Camberwell’s OK. Avoid Peckham. Avoid Nunhead like the plague. By comparison, Lewisham was almost respectable.
Living in Holborn can be an interesting experience. It’s like a very, very discreet red light district. If I lean perilously over the edge of my balcony I can almost see the City’s only licensed sex shop.
“A man, believed to be despondent over the state of London Transport platform design in suburban London, has thrown himself to his death from a balcony in Leather Lane, Holborn, in what is believed to be a suicide protest over the lack of sex shops in the City.”
best places to look are Loot and newsagents windows. For £700 pcm you’re going to have to look pretty hard. When I first came to london I lived in Ilford (zone 4 but red hot connections to the city) and your budget would just about cover it.
Other than that its the badlands (SE London), or perhaps a bit further out but well connected eg Croydon.
I recommend Hackney. Lots of groovy people (and not too scary), the tube doesn’t run through it so it’s cheap, but it’s still pretty close to Central/Victoria line and British Rail. It’s well-serviced by buses that take you right to Liverpool St or Tottenham Court Road for a quid. I lived just on the Walthamstow side for around 300 pcm in a houseshare, and it was awesome.
Hey Garius, you’re almost a neighbour - I’m in Richmond. Coincidentally, I used to work in Holborn too.
Sorry to say I haven’t anything useful to add. But the housing crisis in the UK will be the subject of the mother of all rants in the pit before long. How can the government not realise that something is seriously wrong when the smallest property is only available to someone earning FIVE TIMES the average wage! It’s all driven by the buy-to-let boom - half the nation suddenly realised they could get something for nothing, and have effectively locked out the other half. Grrrr… I’ll save it for the pit.
Loot is your best bet. You probably know that already. It’s out Thursday morning, get up bloody early and starting phoning right away, places go fast. The Guardian has a small flatshare section in the Saturday edition’s TV guide too.
Kentish Town and Tufnell Park should be relatively cheap. Also try Crouch End (further out, no tube, but on the 91 bus route to Holborn), Holloway Road etc. None of them glamourous (although Crouch End okay) but should be more affordable for it.
Can give plenty of information on Northern Line Edgware Branch stops if needed. Email/phone via website linked below.
Crusoe - yeah, GariBestMate works in Kentish town, but even thats expensive these days - anyone know what Finchley and Mill Hill are like?
cowgirl - cheers, we were looking at Hackney, but it was the travel possibilities that we were wary about.
Reuben - I went to uni at St. Mary’s and never left the area. Every now and then the girlfiriend still manages to drag me down to o’neils in richmond too ( :rolleyes: ). House prices these days are ridiculous anywhere in that area except Hounslow (ick). As an example, they just sold the house we lived in as students (an absolute dive with 3 bedrooms and subsidence) for over half a mill!
Laughing Lagomorph - If you like that lot then you’ll love the name of the area where my university was - Strawberry Hill. And Take a look at the London Tube Map for a good giggle
