The Reality of Renting in Britain today....

PasturesNew

Generali wrote: »

Renting at the bottom of the heap in London can be pretty horrible.

I lived in a huge shared house in the mid-90s near Crystal Palace (only not as classy). There were 4 of us living there.

We paid, from memory, £85/week for a room each, a single tiny shared bathroom between us, a single tiny shared kitchen, and a bedroom each. It was cold, draughty, and slightly damp. The carpet was those carpet tiles you get in cheap offices and I think the tin of paint used to paint the house had cost 3s6d. The house was one of those huge C19th semi-detached places that you see so many of in New Cross and Lewisham.

We used to often have a mate on a mattress in a back room who was down on his luck and between houses. A good Sunday lunchtime after a Saturday night would see 10 or 12 waking up at various points round the house. We were less than 5 minutes from the nearest pub and 10 minutes or so from the station into the City.

The house might not have been up to much, in fact it was a dump but we had a great time living there. The other 2 plus me that lived there I am still in touch with (lost touch with the other one) probably earn about £350,000 a year between us in basic wages plus bonus, commission, overtime etc. and have a total of 5 beautiful kids so we did ok in the end. Add in our 2 most regular Sunday morning sofa surfers and you can probably double the total income and increase the number of kids by 2.

If you'd not met Mrs Right and not got the job you did though, how'd you feel at age 45 to find yourself still living like that?

It was an adventure when you were young, imagine if that were a lifestyle.

That £85/week is probably now £199/week, with feral scum all around. I'd look it up but have no idea where it is, nor have any idea of what type of place you mean.

Generali

PasturesNew wrote: »

If you'd not met Mrs Right and not got the job you did though, how'd you feel at age 45 to find yourself still living like that?

It was an adventure when you were young, imagine if that were a lifestyle.

That £85/week is probably now £199/week, with feral scum all around. I'd look it up but have no idea where it is, nor have any idea of what type of place you mean.

It would be bloody horrible to be living like that still TBH.

The house was basically somewhere to hang up my suit, have a shower and get some sleep. I spent all my time drinking, working and chasing women. Aged 25 with a little cash in my pocket (not much but enough for a few beers) it was great. Who cared if I could see my breath in the morning in my bedroom in the winter on a Sunday as long as there was someone hottie I'd picked up in a club the night before next to me (or at least someone that had looked good the night before with a head full of whatever)?

Now I'm pushing 40, my mates are married with kids and we've moved on. I'd hate to be living like that now, no matter how fondly I look back on those days.

Meeting Mrs G didn't really take me away from all that, it was more that we all grew out of it. Luckily our incomes grew with our changing lives. I can see how that needn't have happened for me but I got a couple of breaks. I've also seen how easy it is to go backwards too, I'm living in what amounts to a shack right now, trying to get things back on track. It's looking good again though and it's easier to do with someone by my side.

Jowo_2

Apparently one of the reasons why a place wasn't suitable for the lady in the article, is that she has a large desk. Who rents and carts round furniture with them?! Granted, she needs a table to write on as she's a journalist but why does she even bother to view single size rooms if she knows she has to fit extra stuff in it?

Generali

My point really was that young people starting their careers rent sh1tty places because if they can't afford to rent one they sure as hell can't afford to buy one.

PasturesNew

Jowo wrote: »

Apparently one of the reasons why a place wasn't suitable for the lady in the article, is that she has a large desk. Who rents and carts round furniture with them?! Granted, she needs a table to write on as she's a journalist but why does she even bother to view single size rooms if she knows she has to fit extra stuff in it?

Inflatable furniture's the way forward. Beanbags, bedrolls and inflatable chairs.... and folding tables.

If you can't pick it up yourself and carry it down stairs and outside to a vehicle on your own in under 3 minutes .... it's surplus to requirements.

olly300

Jowo wrote: »

Apparently one of the reasons why a place wasn't suitable for the lady in the article, is that she has a large desk. Who rents and carts round furniture with them?! Granted, she needs a table to write on as she's a journalist but why does she even bother to view single size rooms if she knows she has to fit extra stuff in it?

I know people who have their own furniture in rental properties from basically a full house to bits and pieces.

The UK is actually a weird country in Europe as most properties come furnished.

However the amount of furniture in a furnished property can really vary from landlord to landlord.

So in some furnish properties you will get everything including plates, pots and cutlery in the kitchen there as in others you will just get white appliances, curtains and a table. And this includes houseshares as well.

abaxas

THE_MOTLEY_GHOULS wrote: »

Renting in the UK is a miserable experience as renter put their life on hold. Just look at the ghouls on here for that confirmation. Many are single unhappy bachelors with no life beyond watching re-runs of Location Location Location whilst swearing angrily at the TV and dribbling their evening dinner Pot Noddle down the front of their yellow stained vest and y-fronts. Worst thing of all is they cant even brighten up their lifes and bed-sit hovels with a fresh lick of paint as their landlord disallowed them.

I'm gonna bite!!!

If renting is putting life on hold, what if your life is more fluid and dynamic?

Maybe buying is the ultimate 'putting life on hold' as it ties you down.

abaxas

THE_MOTLEY_GHOULS wrote: »

Putting life on hold as in not forming relationships, getting engaged, married, having kids, and getting pets. Many landlords disallow this in a similar vein to putting up shelving or painting the place. And of course the miserable life of the rentier class means that they HAVE TO be more fluid, as they can be kicked out at a moments breath. A thoroughly miserable and insecure existence.

Lets take the example of one of my mates.

Cant get work within his local area and cant move to where there is work.

Isnt that the ultimate 'putting life on hold'?

Jowo_2

There have been a number of threads on MSE that are based on news articles from young single working Londoners who feel priced out of today's rental market.

And the comments on the threads and on the news articles themselves indicate that while it may feel specific to their generation right now, London has always been an expensive city to rent in and those on less than affluent salaries will always struggle to secure cheap centrally located accommodation of a high standard.

There is nothing new in someone in London being unimpressed with the types of accommodation they can afford versus the type of accommodation that they seek and that since there is high demand and low supply, competition for vacant accommodation is intense.

It's just that they lack perspective about it - that it's been like this for decades and that they have to either increase their budget or decrease their expectations.

Certainly when I lived in a city outside London 25 years ago, I earned about £80 after tax and paid £35 per week in rent, plus a share of bills on top, in fairly ordinary to grotty accommodation. Thing is, I thought it was the norm and as I didn't have fabulous expectations and the internet didn't then exist, I had no impulse nor any means to whinge about it. I mean, I simply didn't feel sorry for myself, it didn't occur to me that I 'deserved' more...

JonnyBravo

THE_MOTLEY_GHOULS wrote: »

And of course the miserable life of the rentier class means that they HAVE TO be more fluid, as they can be kicked out at a moments breath.

Oh yeah. Us landlords are always kicking out tenants. We just love void periods.
And before you say it, if the tenant acts in a way to get kicked out I don't suspect they're much bothered about having to move.

But then you wouldn't really understand this would you? You've already demonstrated that you understand very little at all.
Muppet.