Flat.

Thought I'd take time out from tourist posts and talk to you about flatting in London.

Flats over here are listed in 'pcm', monthly rates, and generally range from £650-800 if you don't want to live in a poohole. So about the same price as my whole house in Wellington for a single room. The landlord doesn't pay the 'council tax' over here though (rates) so you've got to add that on. Thankfully gas, electricity and tv are pretty cheap split between 3/4 people, but yea. 

Also coming from overseas, you have no idea which areas are total shitholes. So every flat you see online, you've got to do so much homework:

• which tube/s are in the area? What zone is it? If it's further out, like zone 3, that's gonna cost you more in commuting. Where are the closest hubs, and are they good ones?
• how big of a shithole is the area? Do some snooping around in Google Street view. Maybe that's just cause I'm in East London haha. But I realise now, you can't take a New Zealander perspective on affluence via the age of cars. The vehicle fleet over here is about 15 years newer than ours, I haven't seen one Sentra anywhere. As an avid '93 Sentra hatchback spotter this is disappointing. Wikipedia has also been quite good with quite in-depth information about suburbs if you're getting serious.
• Once you've done that and promptly forgotten every other suburb you just looked at, you've got to do it over and over again. Google maps is quite handy with its public transport overlay when you check it against the tube map but it's still a pain in the ass. 

There're no fucking landmarks in this city. They're much more subtle than back home - I've learnt that Viccy park looks like a boot. I can usually spot that on a map, gonna have to learn the bends in the Thames I think.

"But Lozza, you've already found a flat!"

That's right. On top of that, I've had the misfortune of being swindled with this flat. The old, 'I'm leaving but the other two are staying', but when you pay them out, 'I just heard the other two are leaving, and the lease is expiring next month' - top stuff. 'And the rent just went up.'

I was in a spot before the V Festival so I still did alright getting in here for a month, but yea - not ideal! I need a permanent home, otherwise I'm always travelling, I'm never settled. I have the option of staying on here, but the landlord is a bit dodgy. He only gives you one of those fake English names foreigners use to get along easier, like 'John' and he is really pushy.

Unless it's homebrew, if it smells funny, I'm not drinking it.

He said he'd pay half the council tax, then when I wrote it into the agreement today he said he wouldn't. He did come around after I called him out on breaking his word - shouldn't have to. Then he tried to pressure me into signing onto a £2,000 a month lease, alone - come on dude. I have been toying with staying on, risking the two new random flatmates, but I think I'm just going to bail and move out, gun for my third flat! Dude's too shifty, the agreement has heaps of bullshit in it too - like £85 for inventory photos, £75 'leaving fee' and £300 'agreement renewal fee' - for what?!

I'm sure this isn't a typical flatting experience over here and I've just had a small run of semi-bad luck. But on the positive side, I've met some lovely people, seen a bit of East London, and I'll meet some other folks in the coming weeks I'm sure. 

So that's my flatting situation over here for you. Bit of a pain in the arse really, I would have liked to be spending this time doing touristy things and catching up with friends, friends I could count on one hand! But the realities of living here instead of being a tourist are always nagging at me, so today I looked at flats and applied for some jobs. Boring. Can't get a bloody bank account until I've got a tenancy agreement with my address on it either, so I'm all cash. All cashed up. 

In other news, I've booked into a Meetup trip next month, day trip to Canterbury and Margate. So that'll be fun, little UK outing! And will head off to the Notting Hill Carnival tomorrow or Monday. Totes mental.