Bricks and Mortar
Our housing situation is like an endless game of snakes and ladders, played on a board featuring a 1950s ex-council flat in Crouch End. We moved into the flat two months ago, looking forward to the extra space and niaively believing that because the work that needed to be done to the place before we moved in would definately get done, because it had all been written into a contract and signed according to British tenancy law. Which we've now realised amounts to peanuts.
Two months later and we still don't have a working boiler or a working oven. As each week goes by, we go up and down the ladders and snakes as we try and find different ways to persuade the agency and landlady to get the fucking work done. For a while we thought we had an agreement to get someone in to get the boiler fixed and subtract the cost from the rent (the boiler isn't heating the water, meaning that we have use the emersion heater which is expensive and relies on one of us remembering to turn it on in advance), but now this is being disputed because the part required to fix the boiler is expensive and landlady doesn't want to pay up, so we're back down the snake to square one. Meanwhile, I've had to resort to searching on the internet for spare parts to fix the oven door, which is falling apart. I ordered them but since they arrived they've been sitting next to the oven until I get the nerve to actually try and fix it. This shouldn't be something that I have to do, but we realised that it was a case of fixing it ourselves or it not getting done at all.
If I was paying really cheap rent then I'd accept the inconveniences, but that's not the case, we're paying a lot of money to live here, and I'm pretty furious that we're not getting the things that we're paying for. I'm getting sick and tired now of putting my time, effort and sometimes my own money into doing repairs to other people's houses. Its like rubbing my face into the dirt about the fact that as a single person on a very moderate income, I might never be able to afford to own my own home in London. Instead, I have the privelege of paying extortionate amounts of money to live in other people's bricks and mortar and add value to them by doing the repairs/impovements that they can't be bothered to do themselves.
But, other than the housing situation, Crouch End is treating me well. Yes I know its all very la di da around here, but after four years of living in ghetto town Tottenham, its like being able to breathe out after holding my breath for a very long time. I can walk home at night without feeling scared, I can say hello to people in shops and they smile and reply. There are trees, cafes, a lido and a market and its generally a great place to be living. And the flat, despite all the problems described above , is a lovely place to live, which is why its such a shame that its been such a source of stress since we've moved in. Having moved here from a shabby Victorian terrace with creeky floorboards and lots of drafts, I've fallen in love with its kitsch 1950s features, its functionality and its bright white walls. In the morning the sun pores in through the windows, waking me up early, and if I look out I can see the sun coming up over the hill on which Alexandra Palace stands. And then in the evening, on the other side of the flat, I can look out and see the sun setting over Muswill Hill, and sometimes I have one of those London moments, you know the ones.
But the price to be paid for living in this city is an uncertain future in terms of housing for the likes of me. The slightly batty lady downstairs has informed me today that there are plans to build a development of part buy/part rent housing on a site opposite the block where I'm living. She's trying to block the planning application because of the fact that it will involve cutting down a few trees and living opposite a building site for a while. Well, I'm sorry lady, trees are very nice, but I for one am not prepared to live in one. I don't know if my measly salary at the moment is enough even for social housing, but I'm going to make sure that I'm the first person down on the waiting list for that housing anyway. In the meantime, we have an appointment with Harringey housing services tomorrow morning to get advice on the issues with the landlady. Fingers crossed they can do something to help, if not the next stop might be the solicitor's office.