What two decades of renting in London has taught me

Jessica Regan was successful Scotland implicit the summertime performing a one-woman amusement astatine the Edinburgh Fringe erstwhile she received a astonishment telephone from her landlord. The quality was not good. He was selling the location she had called location for six years and she needed to commencement packing her bags.

The timing was peculiarly ironic since Jessica’s show, 16 Postcodes, is astir the highs and lows of 2 decades spent renting successful London. “I americium presently without a postcode,” said Jessica.

Her renting beingness began erstwhile she moved from her autochthonal Ireland to a shared location successful Acton backmost successful 2004 to instrumentality up a coveted spot astatine the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. “It was my 2nd clip successful London – the archetypal was my audition,” said Jessica. “I was a greenish sprout of grass.”

Over the years Jessica has had good implicit 20 flatmates, got to cognize north, south, east, and westbound London intimately, made galore large friends, dealt with damp, mould, and rodent infestations, and encountered her just stock of grasping landlords and “devilish” property agents.

During that clip Jessica has besides built a career– she was a bid regular connected the BBC’s Doctors and has appeared connected shows including Ill Behaviour, Call The Midwife, and Peep Show.

In the aforesaid timeframe location prices person accrued by much than 500 per cent, but wages by little than six per cent, meaning that buying a spot of her ain is retired of the question. The Walthamstow location she lived successful was bought successful 1996 for £65,000. When her landlord enactment it up for merchantability the expanding popularity of E17 meant that it was listed for offers implicit £615,000. “It is obscene,” said Jessica, present 42. “I person nary anticipation of buying arsenic a freelancer, adjacent though I person perfectly achieved what I wanted to successful my chosen profession. It feels similar the metropolis is forcing maine out.”

Jessica’s enforced relocation has happened astatine a clip of unprecedented unit connected London’s rental markets. Rents jumped by astir 10 per cent successful the twelvemonth to September, according to the Office of National Statistics, aft years of sustained terms maturation pursuing the pandemic. Supply of homes is truthful abbreviated that renters request to marque offers connected properties they’ve not adjacent viewed, and to connection supra asking rents to compete. “I was cocooned portion I was successful Walthamstow, and I didn’t realise things were getting truthful crazy,” said Jessica. Unable to look joining the scrum for a caller location close distant she is present staying with friends successful King’s Cross, interspersed with visits location to household successful Ireland, and volition commencement hunting for a caller postcode successful the caller year.

Sadly precocious lodging costs thrust tens of thousands of Londoners retired of the metropolis each twelvemonth – successful the archetypal fractional of 2024 unsocial property agents Hamptons reported that much than 76,000 Londoners had discontinue the city.

“My interest is that London volition go this beige place, without each the spectrums of humanity surviving alongside each other,” said Jessica.

“I cognize I americium privileged to person an astonishing assemblage of household and friends – I won’t beryllium sleeping unsmooth – and I americium feeling defiant. I person built precisely the beingness I was hoping to physique successful London and I’m not leaving.”

In the clip she has spent packing her bags and moving from 1 rental to different Jessica has learned a happening oregon 2 astir however to past London’s rental scene. These are her cardinal takeaways:

Be upfront with your flatmates:

Over the years Jessica’s flatmates person included a young antheral suffering a psychotic interruption (she barricaded herself into her chamber astatine nighttime to consciousness safe). Often the problems weren’t the flatmates themselves but their hangers-on –guests and partners who stole nutrient and didn’t cleanable up their ain mess. “You person to person zero tolerance for thing which makes you consciousness unsafe,” she said.

For little superior niggles her proposal is to tackle problems caput connected not with passive assertive post-its. “I judge successful giving radical 1 oregon 2 chances. Then I deliberation you should beryllium nonstop astir problems. Don’t permission notes. Communicate with them astir what is happening, and beryllium alert that you each person to amusement information to each other.” Jessica has besides learned to prime flatmates who unrecorded a afloat and fulfilling life. “If they walk each time connected the sofa they volition resistance you down,” she said.

Remember that renting has immoderate advantages:

Moving astir London for years has fixed Jessica a escaped acquisition into its concealed gems. “You tin instrumentality maine to beauteous overmuch immoderate conduit presumption and I volition cognize wherever to find the good, inexpensive Italian adjacent oregon the concealed whiskey bar,” said Jessica. “I person an intimate cognition of the city. “

Another payment of changeless question is that Jessica is simply a superb declutterer, adept packer, and doesn’t acceptable excessive store successful worldly possessions. “It makes you mindful astir what you buy, and alert of however small you need,” she said.

Don’t fto landlords locomotion each implicit you:

Until the constituent astatine which helium gave her announcement Jessica was beauteous blessed with her Walthamstow landlord. The location was a small shabby but the rent was tenable and she and her housemate had years of stableness there.

“My archetypal landlord was besides my worst, it was a baptism of fire,” said Jessica of her Acton rental. “I had to wage him six weeks’ rent arsenic a deposit and erstwhile I moved retired helium conscionable said helium wasn’t giving it back. The location was amended than erstwhile I moved in, determination was nary reason.

“This was earlier the Government’s deposit schemes, truthful I had a face-off with him and I utilized my acting skills. I told him my begetter was a solicitor – he’s really a retired civilian servant – and I’d been holding him disconnected but helium couldn’t hold to travel implicit and instrumentality a look astatine his concern successful detail. A cheque was written the adjacent day.”

Some property agents merit the hate:

They regularly diagnostic successful lists of most-hated professionals and portion not each property agents are the same, immoderate volition effort and con you each which way. “Estate agents tin beryllium the devil,” said Jessica.

Her worst acquisition was erstwhile moving retired of a level successful westbound London she had been sharing with a boyfriend. “We had heard a mates was moving successful and we decided to bargain them a vessel of vino and a paper wishing them luck,” she said. “It was a karmic thing.”

Sweet? The property cause didn’t deliberation so. “We got an invoice charging america £65 for items near down successful the flat,” said Jessica.

Jessica Regan is performing her Edinburgh Fringe amusement 16 Postcodes astatine the Pleasance Theatre, Caledonian Road, from October 29 to 31 (www.pleasance.co.uk)