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liz_jones_on_the_te_ifying_insecu_ity_of_having_to_ent_in_you_60s
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liz_jones_on_the_te_ifying_insecu_ity_of_having_to_ent_in_you_60s [2024/03/20 08:08] 47.128.18.196 alte Version wiederhergestellt (2023/06/17 03:32) |
liz_jones_on_the_te_ifying_insecu_ity_of_having_to_ent_in_you_60s [2024/05/20 14:48] (aktuell) 18.222.169.139 alte Version wiederhergestellt (2024/04/20 16:30) |
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| I always knew it would. It had been lurking in the background as I tried to carry on, make plans. I knew that it would all end, swiftly. Not with a whimper but with a bang. | I always knew it would. It had been lurking in the background as I tried to carry on, make plans. I knew that it would all end, swiftly. Not with a whimper but with a bang. | ||
| I'd been told there was a viewing planned at the cottage I've rented since 2018. | I'd been told there was a viewing planned at the cottage I've rented since 2018. | ||
| - | It's been up for sale since April. I learned it was going to be put on the market in February, when the landlady turned up with little warning, an estate agent in tow. | + | It's been up for sale since April. I learned it was going to be put on the market in February, when the landlady turned up with little warning, |
| - | The agent started taking photographs of every room and my courtyard garden. Without asking first. | + | [[https:// |
| Or even talking to me. Because who am I, other than a lowly private renter, unworthy of even a kindly 'Good morning' | Or even talking to me. Because who am I, other than a lowly private renter, unworthy of even a kindly 'Good morning' | ||
| Zeile 18: | Zeile 18: | ||
| How is this allowed? | How is this allowed? | ||
| - | We are protected at work if we are sick or lose our jobs, EVdEN EvE NAkliYaT | + | Here is more information regarding [[https:// |
| Surely, there is more to being a landlord than having me pay your mortgage when I have paid the rent on time and looked after your property? | Surely, there is more to being a landlord than having me pay your mortgage when I have paid the rent on time and looked after your property? | ||
| A lifeline was dangled in front of our poor, cold noses last month when Michael Gove — since appointed Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities under Rishi Sunak — voiced his support for Boris Johnson' | A lifeline was dangled in front of our poor, cold noses last month when Michael Gove — since appointed Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities under Rishi Sunak — voiced his support for Boris Johnson' | ||
| Zeile 24: | Zeile 24: | ||
| After all, divorce is a common factor. The Government won't get growth from a workforce that wonders if getting out of bed is worth the bother. | After all, divorce is a common factor. The Government won't get growth from a workforce that wonders if getting out of bed is worth the bother. | ||
| - | (Image: [[https:// | + | His speech was music to the ears of the more than four million private renters in the UK. |
| The misery, the uncertainty. | The misery, the uncertainty. | ||
| Goodness only knows how families with school-age children cope with the disruption, the endless reading of meters and changing of suppliers, the redirection of post, the changing of council tax and on and on and on … It's all so unbelievably stressful. | Goodness only knows how families with school-age children cope with the disruption, the endless reading of meters and changing of suppliers, the redirection of post, the changing of council tax and on and on and on … It's all so unbelievably stressful. | ||
| Zeile 36: | Zeile 36: | ||
| Times are bad for Generation Rent — the poor 20 and 30-somethings who are unable to scrape together a deposit, or afford a mortgage. | Times are bad for Generation Rent — the poor 20 and 30-somethings who are unable to scrape together a deposit, or afford a mortgage. | ||
| - | But to be in your 60s and to be renting, | + | But to be in your 60s and to be renting, as I am, after a lifetime of hard work, is infinitely worse. |
| - | Why? Because, at 64, I am perilously close to retirement. | + | Why? Because, at 64, I am [[https:// |
| I did manage to get a mortgage offer before the current crisis but, even then, the rate I was offered was nearly 5 per cent and the maximum term I was allowed was 12 years. | I did manage to get a mortgage offer before the current crisis but, even then, the rate I was offered was nearly 5 per cent and the maximum term I was allowed was 12 years. | ||
| There is no hope of a partner on the horizon to split bills with. | There is no hope of a partner on the horizon to split bills with. | ||
| Zeile 60: | Zeile 60: | ||
| (A long story: there' | (A long story: there' | ||
| As a bankrupt, my rental choices were limited. I found a small house nearby, just outside the market town of Richmond in North Yorkshire, for £1,700 a month. | As a bankrupt, my rental choices were limited. I found a small house nearby, just outside the market town of Richmond in North Yorkshire, for £1,700 a month. | ||
| - | The search was made extra hard given the fact I (then) had four cats and three dogs. Most rental properties, | + | The search was made extra hard given the fact I (then) had four cats and three dogs. Most rental properties, even those in rural areas with ghastly swirly carpets, stipulate: ' |
| In 2020, a white paper was drawn up to allow renters to keep dogs and cats, given that they are, after all, family members, and less likely than toddlers to scribble on walls, but it's not yet on the statute books. | In 2020, a white paper was drawn up to allow renters to keep dogs and cats, given that they are, after all, family members, and less likely than toddlers to scribble on walls, but it's not yet on the statute books. | ||
| The wonderful charity Dogs On The Streets (DOTS), which helps the pets of the homeless, reveals the number of pets given up due to being banned from rentals has rocketed: 'We get 20 to 30 calls a day from tenants unable to keep their pets.' | The wonderful charity Dogs On The Streets (DOTS), which helps the pets of the homeless, reveals the number of pets given up due to being banned from rentals has rocketed: 'We get 20 to 30 calls a day from tenants unable to keep their pets.' | ||
| So I went with this house, but was told: ' | So I went with this house, but was told: ' | ||
| - | Conran sofas. A 1920s desk. An Eero Saarinen marble table. If you have any type of concerns pertaining to where and how you can utilize [[https:// | + | Conran sofas. A 1920s desk. An Eero Saarinen marble table. I was your typical used-to-live-in-Islington high-end cliché. So I begged and said: 'Well, can't you put your stuff in storage?' |
| The landlady turned up with little warning and an estate agent in tow - my home was up for sale So I put all my furniture in storage and gave my brand-new appliances — a Smeg range cooker, Miele dishwasher, washing machine and tumble dryer — to a friend. | The landlady turned up with little warning and an estate agent in tow - my home was up for sale So I put all my furniture in storage and gave my brand-new appliances — a Smeg range cooker, Miele dishwasher, washing machine and tumble dryer — to a friend. | ||
| Zeile 73: | Zeile 73: | ||
| That same year, I rented a one-bedroom flat in North London at more than £3,000 a month — to save on hotel bills for work. | That same year, I rented a one-bedroom flat in North London at more than £3,000 a month — to save on hotel bills for work. | ||
| - | Handing me the keys, the landlady, a [[https:// | + | Handing me the keys, the landlady, a mature student (dear God, how do these people get to own property?), pointed out that I would 'need to buy expensive saucepans' |
| Or wear jeans on the sofa as 'they wear it out'. | Or wear jeans on the sofa as 'they wear it out'. | ||
| When I later complained about the filth of the communal areas, which only I vacuumed, she said: 'Oh, that's a surprise, as apart from you, every flat is owner-occupied.' | When I later complained about the filth of the communal areas, which only I vacuumed, she said: 'Oh, that's a surprise, as apart from you, every flat is owner-occupied.' | ||
| Zeile 81: | Zeile 81: | ||
| I was again evicted, for no reason, in 2019, having spent a fortune moving books, magazines, clothes and my desk 250 miles. | I was again evicted, for no reason, in 2019, having spent a fortune moving books, magazines, clothes and my desk 250 miles. | ||
| (I know the names of the nice men at Watson Removals; I even know the birthdays of a couple of them.) | (I know the names of the nice men at Watson Removals; I even know the birthdays of a couple of them.) | ||
| - | She said the flat was being sold but, a few weeks later, I saw it up for rent again on Rightmove at an escalated price. | + | She said the flat was being sold but, |
| She wanted to withhold some of my deposit as the cheap-looking fairy lights were no longer on the balcony. | She wanted to withhold some of my deposit as the cheap-looking fairy lights were no longer on the balcony. | ||
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| I know. | I know. | ||
| - | People warned me not to do it up, as I have no [[https:// | + | People warned me not to do it up, as I have no legal redress. But my home is so important to me: I get depressed in a dump. |
| And so here I am, terrified of being homeless, again. I went to look at another rental the other week. The woman opened the door and a huge Labrador emerged, when her ad had stipulated 'only one small dog considered for an escalated rent'. | And so here I am, terrified of being homeless, again. I went to look at another rental the other week. The woman opened the door and a huge Labrador emerged, when her ad had stipulated 'only one small dog considered for an escalated rent'. | ||
| 'How many dogs do you have?' she asked me, craning to look at the two (out of now four) who had come along for the ride. | 'How many dogs do you have?' she asked me, craning to look at the two (out of now four) who had come along for the ride. | ||
liz_jones_on_the_te_ifying_insecu_ity_of_having_to_ent_in_you_60s.1710918499.txt.gz · Zuletzt geändert: 2024/03/20 08:08 von 47.128.18.196
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