Flat Hunt

"Welcome" mat at Barrington House, my first (temporary) home.


When I arrived in London, my first priority was finding a flat to rent. To save money and perhaps make friends or contacts in a city where I know no one, I decided to share a place with others. It's common for people to rent rooms of their apartment/house in order to help cope with the astronomical rents here.




THE FLATS:

1. TIM
- way out in the middle of nowhere, SouthEast, not all that far away from fucking Kent.
- freelance writer, mostly for mens mags
- nice guy, not creepy, made me a nice cup of tea (put milk in w/o asking if I wanted it - Alex says this is how everyone does it in England and now I think he's right)
- bought the house last year, been working on it, but still a real fixer-uper.
- nice bed (the one that would be mine. People who show me their houses never show me their rooms (one girl excepted).
- surrounded by green area, cheap place, but no way b/c it's truly in the middle of nowhere and it's kind of a smallish boys place.
- oh, he said he'd teach me how to use the "decks" of which he has several set up in the living room as well as a wall full of vinyl. thanks anyway.

2. JAYNE
- I got all the way out to fucking BARKING (east, zone 4) and waited around for a while at the very sketchy station, then left because she never showed and her mobile was switched off. bitch.
- she did email though saying sorry, the room had been filled and her mobile battery had died and it sounded all legit and she ended with god bless.
- wouldn't have wanted to live in that distant and scary neighbourhood anyway.

3. MARYCLARE
- 48 year old artist. She's lived in the house for almost 10 years. It's small, but she's done a beautiful job fixing it up. She's nice and normal too - reminds me of my Aunt Barbara.
- nice kitchen with big table and door out to small back garden. No sitting room/lounge though.
- Two bedrooms - bit shabby but pleasant. Nice bathroom. I would share with one other as she has her own bathroom/bedroom downstairs. oh, the bedrooms are on the first floor (one up from the ground - am I saying it right? the British way?)which is a plus for me.
- hmmm, the problems: I don't know who will end up in the other room, although she seems very sensible and says she doesn't allow anyone to live there who she isn't comfortable with.
- Also, it's in Peckham, not too far from where I'm staying now and it's somewhat questionable. Let me explain...
Anna's place is about halfway between Camberwell and Peckham. Camberwell is alright - a bit dirty and rough round the edges, but there's a decent bit of green, even a nice park, so so slightly grotty shops, cute library, leisure centre where anna goes for yoga, arts college and south london gallery which is very nice.
That's all about five to 8 minutes away from us (to the left). Five minutes the other way is Peckham. It gets tough there, bit gross actually. I'm not scared, more just uncomfortable. The shops are bad (Alex would laugh, there's a LiDl!) I had a small altercation in the library with a man who was standing too close and bullying me with his staring eyes to get off the computer. The neightbourhood is not very multicultural - it's almost exclusively Afro/Caribbean with a bit of Turkish here and there. The atmosphere is aggressive and very foreign to me.
Anyway beyond these tough few blocks things mellow out a bit, but it's still not what I'd call a good neighbourhood. Maryclare is about an 8 min walk beyond the Peckham action and there's not much around. She's nested in behind the main (where there's a lot of construction going on - yuck) on a rather nice, neighbourhoody type street. She called the area "funky" and told me if I was sensibly dressed and didn't walk around with a lot of jewellry or a sparkly phone that I'd be alright.
- it's 2 minutes from hers to the Queens Road Station, and only 6 minutes to London Bridge from there. Probably under 30 to the west end. Although the trains only run about every 15 minutes. I tried it today and it seemed good.
- The Queens rd. station is a dump though. Maryclare said there is a camera there, and usually cops which she finds comforting.
- Have I said enough here? Frankly it's the one I'm leaning towards.
- oh, last but not least, she is okay with you joining me there and making it into a love nest.

4. VIK
- East London, took a while to get there - too long actually, but the walk from station to his place was pleasant and the neighbourhoods seened decent-nice. Nice Lloyd Park nearby had face painting for kids and lawn bowling for elderly in smart white getups.
- Nicely decorated flat, but crap layout. Series of small rooms off long, narrow corridor. v.nice bathroom
No dining room or place to eat, the common room was very Man-Boy with 3 guitars on stands that I doubt he could play, a big flatscreen tv and manly leather couches. We sat in there for a few minutes chatting, and he kept the volume of the tv way up the whole time. I refused a drink. Oh, and...vik:"I've got loads of friends...I go out all the time...I work in SOHO and I go out after work with my friends every day...I don't use the garden because I'm usually hungover when I'm home because I've loads of friends and I go out in SOHO all the time, after work, with my mates"
- screw off

5. MEG
- normal, ginger haired, American girl, member of the London ultimate frisbee team (aka professional athlete), moving out of her room to move in with her boyfriend (aka SINNER)
- Brilliant area, near Angel station. Nice place, but too expensive. Ad price didn't include bills, or the fee for the cleaner who they hire in. Also, it would mean my name on a 6 month lease, and I'm commitment-phobic.


6. NIALL & DANAE
- Great flat - bit sterile b/c everything is so new. It's a new condo with beautiful views of Canary Wharf and the river from the bedroom and the gorgeous big balcony (with bbq).
- They're ok. He's rich (he owns the place) and a bit of a snob perhaps "I like the security of the area. People who get off at this stop are professionals, not from council flats. But I grew up in a council flat, but still, you want to feel safe, right?" etc
- she's a teacher, from Australia
- they are clearly recruiting a 3rd roomate who wants to hang out with them, watch movies, cook dinner, etc.
- it's too far away and I'm too short-term for their liking I think. Also, a couple would not bode well with them. I like the opportunity to socialize, and the flat is luxurious, but I'm passing.


This summary does not include the people I called who had already found someone for their previously available room, or the people I called who sounded too freakish or daft to bother going to meet.





It's strange though thinking about all of this, with one third (or so) of my mind looking back to life in Hiroshima. Makes it harder to move forward here.