You may or may not have assumed I had a house, or at least a place to call 'home' somewhere in London. I do, or rather, did. On the 20th of August (while I was on holiday in Germany and blissfully unaware of the horrors befalling my East End abode) my block of apartments caught fire. Two people had to be pulled from the inferno (luckily the other 12 or so of us were out of the house), the fire department arrived in time to extinguish the fire before it got to the 2nd floor (and I live on the third, so no damages aside from the door the firemen knocked down to check no-one was inside), but the past month has been spent getting the place live-able.
At first, I slept on many friends' floors.which starts off ok, but if you have your period or a busy day at work (and yes - they are in the same league in my opinion) you don't want to be sleeping on a floor. Then, by some miracle, I found 2 weeks accomodation in a temporary room that *wasn't* extortionate. At the end of those two weeks (i.e today) I was given the keys back in to my house. While I am so happy to have my room back, it's a complete nightmare - everything is covered in a thick layer of dust, my window blind is broken, my clothing racks are teetering, it's all a bit unnerving. I am thankful though, I have my room, it will be beautiful again soon hopefully, and nothing was destroyed.
A FEW LESSONS FOR THOSE OF YOU CONSIDERING RENTING A ROOM IN LONDON
1. It's expensive, I pay £420 a month (for everything except internet, which I provide myself) for a big room, shared toilet/bathroom/kitchen in Bethnal Green next to the tube. This is VERY cheap. Expect to pay at LEAST this in the East End, add approximately £150p/m on if you live somewhere between Shoreditch and Angel, and the original price can honestly DOUBLE if you go to Zone 1 south west (South Kensington, Chelsea)
2. While I love the East End and believe that for a multitude of reasons Australians would thrive there ( for some reason all antipodeans seem to head way out west - Shepherds Bush, Acton) it is largely corrupt and/or deprived - I would love to be more politically correct but I am amped up. Be prepared for dodgy landlords, employers, crappy insurance. I thought, being in a beautiful period building would save my bacon (and I was an idiot who didn't insure any of her belongings) but for example - the caretaker of my poor burnt house lived on the first floor and lost EVERYTHING (clothes, documents, new mattress, TV, the lot), was poor and had no insurance, the landlords are not going to help out even a teeny bit. I respect them and thank them for getting me into my room, but, come on!
Please - search and search and MAKE SURE you are getting a decent deal, *particularly* in the East. Read, read and re-read before you sign anything. If I wasn't only here for another 3 or so months, I would be moving out of my place with all due speed.
3. Take out insurance - especially if you are not 100% confident in your landlord/house/area
4. Do not take anything for granted. Last time I did, my house burnt down.
If you would like any opinions or advice, I am more than happy to give it. Why do so many of us Antipodeans choose the West anyway? It's very boring in comparison to the East (in my opinion, at least!).
(Please note, this blog was written before Stratford and the East held the London Olympics. London is not ready for the Olympics, and the East is going to suffer, if I had to move back in/post 2012 I would a - prepare to spend more money and b- live in the north or south)
Oh, London, I love you but sometimes you wear me out. Thinking I could probably rent a house in Brisbane for the money I pay brings a tear to my eye.
No comments:
Post a Comment