London and Low/Minimum Wage Earners

Cpcompany

CIS wrote: »

He may have permission (its unusual but is sometimes given) but most likely he hasn't. IF he hasn't got permission then its likely they would take steps to recover the property and cease his tenancy.

Well, my Landlord is a Chinese woman and definitely not born here judging by the way she talks.

I have a written contract and she didnt seem to mind that I hadnt started working when she let me move in.
The Flat definitely hasnt been sold within the last 7 years so its possible that its still a council flat. No locks on the bedroom doors and another flatmate is convinced its sublet.

No idea what situation it will leave me in bu I have no choice but to call for income support as I simply will have no oney by the end of the month.

CIS

No idea what situation it will leave me in bu I have no choice but to call for income support as I simply will have no oney by the end of the month.

Even if it's a council property being sublet it wont have any bearing on your Income Support.

olly300

Cpcompany wrote: »

Well, my Landlord is a Chinese woman and definitely not born here judging by the way she talks.

I have a written contract and she didnt seem to mind that I hadnt started working when she let me move in.
The Flat definitely hasnt been sold within the last 7 years so its possible that its still a council flat. No locks on the bedroom doors and another flatmate is convinced its sublet.

1. RTB started in the 60s. Though most happened in the 1980s and 1990s especially in London.
2. Lots of Chinese people go by an English and Chinese name. This means if you are looking for them on official records unless you know both names you may not find them.
3. None of the houseshares or lodgings I've lived in have had locks on the bedroom doors. The reason being if you were burgled and the door was locked the burglar would simply break down the bedroom doors causing more damage. The aim with preventing burglaries is to stop them getting inside the property in the first place.

Also I have a friend who use to rent an ex-council flat and sublet it out with permission of both the agent and the landlady.

How to manage in London on a low wage?
1. Get 2nd and 3rd jobs. Lots of people are cleaners in the early hours for this reason. (Though it's a bit hard when you are studying.)
2. Cycle, take the bus and walk everywhere. If you are only travelling in zone 1 the vast majority of it's walk able in a short time.
3. Get rid of the gym membership unless it's useful for your 2nd job.

Also if you are on a low wage you aren't expected to have savings.

Oh and lots of jobs are found via word of mouth. You need to let everyone know what your qualifications and skills are, and that you are looking for more work.

Gromitt

Are you registered on sites such as Monster? I know someone who used to travel from London side of the UK up to Birmingham each week due to a job offering that originated from that site.

Cpcompany

olly300 wrote: »

1. RTB started in the 60s. Though most happened in the 1980s and 1990s especially in London.
2. Lots of Chinese people go by an English and Chinese name. This means if you are looking for them on official records unless you know both names you may not find them.
3. None of the houseshares or lodgings I've lived in have had locks on the bedroom doors. The reason being if you were burgled and the door was locked the burglar would simply break down the bedroom doors causing more damage. The aim with preventing burglaries is to stop them getting inside the property in the first place.

Also I have a friend who use to rent an ex-council flat and sublet it out with permission of both the agent and the landlady.

How to manage in London on a low wage?
1. Get 2nd and 3rd jobs. Lots of people are cleaners in the early hours for this reason. (Though it's a bit hard when you are studying.)
2. Cycle, take the bus and walk everywhere. If you are only travelling in zone 1 the vast majority of it's walk able in a short time.
3. Get rid of the gym membership unless it's useful for your 2nd job.

Also if you are on a low wage you aren't expected to have savings.

Oh and lots of jobs are found via word of mouth. You need to let everyone know what your qualifications and skills are, and that you are looking for more work.

Thanks for the feedback.

Busy looking for a second job. The fact that I cant work on weekends is making it pretty hard. Most of the jobs I have been applying for want weekend work, some of them not letting me know that until the interview stage. Its back to looking at full time Mon- Friday work.

Had two pretty bad interview experiences. At one place they lost my CV, the guy interviewing me didnt introduce himself or shake my hand and the interview lasted aboutt 3 minutes. Well worth the trek to West London and missing 3 hours of my course !

I mailed one bar/restaurant and they mailed me back immediately asking me to do a trial shift. So, bearing in mind I had just worked a full day I headed down to south London. Did the shift (Without pay I might add) and they didnt even have the courtesy to call/mail me back and say I didnt have the job. Their are some cheeky gets in this world !

The gym membership had to be paid in advance, unfortunately when I joined I didnt expect to find work this hard to come by. Hopefully its just an unlucky phase but I have never had problems like this before..

I would love to take the bike to work, but its quite a hike cycling from Bethnal Green to Brixton and then working a 12 hour shift.

I had no idea people rented without locks on their doors. This is my 4th house share in London and all the places I had before had locks.
I suppose you learn something new everyday !

Sorry for the whinge, its just been that kind of week.

Cpcompany

Gromitt wrote: »

Are you registered on sites such as Monster? I know someone who used to travel from London side of the UK up to Birmingham each week due to a job offering that originated from that site.

Yeah, I am on Monster. I have applied for a few through them and mainly Reed. It's amazing how many people put in for the jobs, often over 100 applicants within the first day.

I just sent off a big bunch of mails and covering letters within the past two days, hopefully something will come back ASAP. Would be nice if I could get a bit of backdated income support if I do get a job soon.

Cpcompany

Well, apparently I am not entitled to income support either.
If I don't get a full time job or a second job I am f@cked !!