Spoke to a landlord today...

the_flying_pig

Mallotum_X wrote: »

That really is dreadful! where is it?

uh, spitalfields ish, i.e. centralish london.

the_flying_pig

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

It was the only one, that workhouse building in Gower Street. All the rest (and most were much, much bigger) were single rooms. Grotty, small, not enough baths and showers, but single rooms.

i see. just unlucky i suppose.

and, to think, we'd probably be married now if it hadn't been for that pesky room-mate

compomike

Having lived in pretty crappy conditions and dealt with landlords creaming off huge profits yet refusing to do minor repairs in my own student days my default response is tough luck. Compete and improve or get out of the game.

And students now are a lot LESS affluent with no grants previous generations got and huge course fees and bigger debts. Yes, we are a lot more demanding but after paying 10,000 grand for my own degree why shouldnt I demand quality for that money?

neverdespairgirl

the_flying_pig wrote: »

i see. just unlucky i suppose.

and, to think, we'd probably be married now if it hadn't been for that pesky room-mate

My flatmate for the following few years at UCL spent her first year in a shared room in Gower Street. Did you know the beds there, the bedframes, were left over from workhouse days?

It was very cheap, and very handy for the uni, and that was the sum total of the benefits.

BillJones

cassidy0111 wrote: »

I think his point is as much about big banker backed property companies putting pressure on the little guys who have provided a service for years.

Why is it bad that a banker backs it rather than a (former) car salesman?

This makes no sense to me.

BillJones

the_flying_pig wrote: »

I daresay that's largely perception based [i.e. not really very true at all].

University participation has roughly tripled since 25 yrs ago [i.e. it's become far less the preserve of the rich than it was].

In my day, it was not the preserve of the rich at all, it was the preserve of the most intelligent, and the most academically able.

I received a grant, and attended Oxford after my state comprehensive, and at no point did my parents need to be wealthy (which is good, as they weren't).