Big Badger House (aka Noisy Lodger) HE'S GONE!

Badger_Lady

Ha-ha, my immediate thought "SportyLodger" is looking most unimaginative!

Well I got my guardianship in London It's most cool - I've got an enormous room the size of a church hall, with a shared kitchen next door and a choice of bathroom facilities downstairs. My neighbours seem really friendly: a guy from the floor below even gave me his lilo to sleep on until I get some furniture for the place.

PasturesNew

Be careful your lodgers don't become tenants by default.

beanielou

Not sure what property guardianship is?
Looking after it in some way I guess.

PasturesNew

beanielou wrote: »

Not sure what property guardianship is?
Looking after it in some way I guess.

You live in empty big places (e.g. care homes, office blocks) so they're inhabited/to dissuade squatters. Rent is low, you get just 2-3 weeks' notice to leave when the owner wants to sell the place or open it up or have work done.

I looked at one once, hoping .... it was a right doss house; there are more in London than the remote areas though.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/mar/12/property-guardians-loft-living

Badger_Lady

Thanks for explaining, Pastures - bang on I'm loving it so far, it's an awful lot cheaper than renting in London and it's quirky too! The only problem is, with so much space, I'm scouring Freecycle etc trying to find furniture to fill it...

I've still got my own bedroom at home and Tufter's looking after it for me. I've heard of renting houses out including furniture etc, but not including the family pet .

BigBruvLodger had the sharp end of my tongue yesterday when I came home to find an empty coke can covered with cigarette ash on the living room floor... oooo no no no....

PasturesNew

Badger_Lady wrote: »

I've still got my own bedroom at home and Tufter's looking after it for me.

Just keeping a room for yourself isn't always enough - just make sure you bone up on the details. Perhaps start a new thread to discuss it/find the whole deal. Just to stop you falling into a booby trap.

Farzackerly

Round about here, house-sitting is usually paid for by the owner, not by the sitters. I must admit, the guardianship concept is a new one on me, and only goes to show the greedy grasping ways of some, who manage to turn a buck on the most unlikely of cases. I suppose the number of people willing to put up with actually paying to stay in an unfurnished loft (as in the article) near the City, creates a demand for these places and allows the rampant, greedy, capitalist swine to cash in on the demand.
Fancy that.

Badger_Lady

The thing is, you don't have any rights of tenancy, just a licence to occupy the premises. That way, the security company can carry out inspections without notice, enter the property at any time and evict you when they need to reclaim the building.

But from my point of view, I'm getting accommodation at a third of the price of rent. I have almost no responsibilities other than to treat the building as my own, and I have no worries about paying the bills because everything's covered by the security company.

I'm sure if you were just looking after someone's house you might be able to strike a private deal whereby you get paid, but these are big commercial buildings like hospitals and blocks of flats that need more than just "sitting". Our licence fees cover the cost of having professionals manage the premises.

I can see your point absolutely Farzackerly, but I do think this is win-win .

Ellie2758

Wow, things have moved on in Badgerlady Land since I was last here. Congrats on the job and the new accomodation. I had read about this idea of guardianship some time ago but it is interesting to hear how it works from somebody who is actually doing it.

Is Tufters ok now?

Any more news of your stalker?

Badger_Lady

Hia!

Well, one week down and I'm having a blast Lots of new London friends but nice to come home at the weekend. BigGunsLodger is moving in on Monday - he and BigBrivLodger haven't met yet but I'm sure they'll get along...

Tufter's been his usual clingy self since I got home, but BigBruv swears he's been pining and fussing in my absence. I reckon he just wants feeding - I put a pouch of food down whenever the skinny cat asks me too while BigBruv sticks to mealtimes. Either way, he'll get used to the change over time.

Ellie no, thank goodness that never came to anything! As far as I know I'm not being stalked any more (if I ever even was)