Renting has a rep for being for young people in grotty houseshares.
But when the cost of buying a home in London makes it an impossible dream for many, it’s not surprising that renting has become the norm for all types of people – including families.
Priscilla, 33, is an architect who rents a two-bedroom flat with her husband Neil, 34, also an architect, and their son Sebastian, who’s one and a half years old.
While Priscilla is originally from Ecuador and Neil moved to London from Kent, Sebastian is a born and bred Londoner – and someone who’s lived in rented property since birth.
He’d never know there’s a difference between renting a flat and owning it outright, mind you.
Despite the flat not technically being theirs, Priscilla and Neil have done a stellar job of turning the flat into a home.
Hey, Priscilla! How much do you pay to live here?
We pay £1,530 for rent, plus bills.
And what do you get for what you pay?
The flat has two bedrooms and one bathroom.
I would love to have another bathroom. Used as I am to American-style homes, I love plenty of bathrooms: one for each of us! Is that weird?
How did you find this flat?
I found this flat when Sebastian was eight months old and immediately fell for the space, the fact that it was built-for-purpose, new and solid construction.
Also I was coming to the end of my maternity leave and had to find a place with a manageable commute.
We had started viewings with a clear list of non-negotiable things the flat needed to have: wooden floors, not on the ground floor but not too high up, bright, unfurnished, with mixer taps in the bathroom sink (!), decent storage and generally newer.
I found it by looking on Rightmove. We had been to several viewings already, some just around the corner from here and seen some dreadful stuff.
Around the time when we started to lose hope, this one came about.
I called to arrange a viewing and happened to meet the landlord when I came to view it. They were painting it and getting it ready.
I saw it and was told that there was communal storage to store the pram and bicycles and I was sold. I would be able to go out with the pram easily and leave it locked downstairs, it had mixer taps, it ticked all the boxes!
And are you happy here?
Yes, we are very happy. We used to live in a one-bed flat conversion in a terrace.
The area was nicer (Newington Green), but the conversion wasn’t great – we could hear our neighbours and the flat was TINY.
Everything was really old and there was almost no storage.
We still made it home and lived there for three and a half years. Then we had our son, so we outgrew it very quickly.
Do you feel like you have enough space?
Yes, at the moment we are quite comfortable. There’s never enough space when you have a toddler, though.
As much as we try to keep the place clean and tidy, there are always toys lying around. You can tell there is a small child around! We are constantly putting the mess away so that we don’t feel like living in a nursery.
We have furnished the flat little by little, and there is still room for more storage to be added with time.
Are there any problems with the flat you have to put up with?
Not really. The only things I could say are the frequent emergency services sirens going up and down the Hornsey Road, but we have become accustomed to those.
We have lovely neighbours and it is a quiet building. One problem we have had recently is humidity showing in the windowsills. We need to keep an eye on it and are constantly checking that it doesn’t get worse. We’re hoping once the winter ends this will improve.
But in my experience, there are always issues where you live. I should know: I’ve moved nine times since moving to London!
How have you made the flat feel like home?
I am a definite homemaker. Wherever I
live I try and make it feel mine. It is my home for however long I’ll be there.
We wanted to rent an unfurnished place so that we could choose furniture that really reflects our taste.
I painted the living room last summer. Every night after putting our son to sleep, I would change into my decorator outfit and paint some more. It took us a whole week, but we are really happy with the result.
I love hanging paintings and building up little by little a gallery on the walls. Everywhere I have lived, the posters have come with me. It is a nice continuity.
You’ve managed to make your house feel really homely despite it being a rental – were there any challenges you faced to do that?
It is always a fine balance between personalising the place and knowing it doesn’t belong to us and we might move at some point.
We asked the estate agents permission to paint the walls and they agreed as long as we stuck to neutral colours.
I have bolder ideas, but I have to restrain myself because we aren’t 100% free to do as we wish!
The same goes for home improvements. The flat didn’t need much when we moved in. But I am always itching to change things and that is slightly limiting on a rental.
Do you have plans to move again?
Not at the moment. We have been here for a year and envision ourselves staying here for the next couple of years at least.
When the time comes, we will need to move if there is another baby. We would love to have a guest room some day and a garden for our son to play. And why not, another bathroom.
Have you considered buying a place?
Honestly, it isn’t something that we see ourselves affording in the near future. The house market in London is crazy and doesn’t keep any relation with wages.
The way we see it, we won’t be able to do this without help. We thought about looking into Help to Buy and Shared Ownership schemes, but weren’t convinced by what they required and what you got in return.
I dream of owning a place of my own one day. We are architects, after all! We would love to have a place where we could have free reign to try design ideas and experiment.
In the meantime I am happy exploring with interior design and building from that. I started my Instagram account to share my love for design and build up in tiny steps the flat as a design project. I hope that with time it will take more shape.
It is a never ending project for me, and I have fun with it.
Anyone else feeling rental envy? Let’s take a look around.
What I Rent is a weekly series that’s out every Tuesday at 10am.
Check back next week to have another nose around a rented property.
How to get involved in What I Rent
What I Rent is Metro.co.uk’s weekly series that takes you inside the places people are renting, to give us all a better sense of what’s normal and how much we should be paying.
If you fancy taking part, please email whatirent@metro.co.uk.
You’ll need to have pictures taken of your kitchen, living room, bathroom, and bedroom, plus a few photos of you in your room. Make sure you get permission from your housemates!
You’ll also need to be okay with sharing how much you’re paying for rent, as that’s pretty important.
Do you have a story to share? Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.
Share your views in the comments below.
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/03/03/what-i-rent-priscilla-12337695/?ITO=squid
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