Week 2: 13 - 19 April 2015
Following on from last week’s miracle where we were offered
temporary accommodation, we took up residence on Monday. Although we were out of the hostel, in
hindsight perhaps we would have been better to stay…
When we visited the house on Saturday, one of the current
housemates indicated to us that in the next few days there would be minor work
occurring in the kitchen. Following our standard evening routine of viewing
properties, meeting the potential housemates and hoping that they choose us, we
made it to the house to find that the cupboards under the sink had all been
removed, plus the oven and cooktop removed. Not ideal. At this stage, we still
believed that the builders would be back to put it all back together tomorrow.
But, day by day more and more of the kitchen disappeared and on Friday night we
came home to an empty hole in the floor. For now, the kitchen facilities are
located in the laundry and once you’ve navigated the 3 planks of timber
precariously linking the hall to the laundry, you are met with a fridge,
microwave, toaster and kettle. We assume it is similar to living onsite at ‘The
Block’, but without the celebrity glamour or any chance of prize money.
On Wednesday afternoon, Roslyn went to an interview for a
position at the Royal College of Psychiatrists. By Thursday morning, they had
offered her the job and on Friday she started as Eastern and South Eastern
Divisions Manager (fancy title for Events Manager and Secretary combined), on a
6-week contract with a permanent position available at the end.
After viewing on average 3 properties per night for the last
fortnight, we discovered a property on Friday that was near perfect. 2 bedroom
flat in Clapham, one of the areas we wanted before we even left Australia,
already furnished, nicely renovated and in one of the best streets of the area.
The landlord turned out to be an Aussie guy who came across to London 20+ years
ago for a 1 year backpacking holiday, but never moved back home, so he
understood our circumstances much better than anyone else we’d met so far.
Despite the benefit of Brendan working at a real estate
agency, we were not prepared for the difficulties of finding somewhere to live.
Trying to secure a rental property or even a room in London is near impossible.
You need to pass reference checks, which include having held a UK bank account
for 6 months, having had full time employment for 6 months, a previous address
and utility bill, or have a UK-based guarantor. If you can’t provide these, you
are expected to pay 6 months rent in advance. If you don’t have any of this,
you end up in a difficult situation like us.
We ended the week visiting the Cereal Killer Café and Brick
Lane markets in the hipster hangout of Shoreditch. London’s own cat café is
also based here, although we were unable to go in due to it being booked out
until next month.
With no further property inspections to attend, we have been
getting into a show called Made in Chelsea, a structured-reality TV series
about the lives of affluent twenty-something’s living in London’s exclusive
South West areas of Belgravia, Kings Road and Knightsbridge. If you have time,
it is worth viewing an episode (not for the storyline…) because Brendan works
smack bang in the middle of this area, and walks past many of the places of
filming. Roslyn describes the show as a mix between Gossip Girl and Geordie
Shore.
Highlights for the
week:
- Moved out of the hostel
- Moved into a construction zone
- Roslyn started work
- Found a flat
- Cereal Killer Café – a menu of over 120 different cereals,
with flavoured milks and additional toppings that you can add
- Brick Lane markets – some questionable goods on offer here
- Discovered Made in Chelsea
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