I am posting on behalf of some one else:-
Room Wanted
Female professional n/s looking for a room to rent in the Crouch End/Stroud Green Road/Highgate/Muswell Hill area.
I have lived in Crouch End for more than eight years. I am leaving my current flat as the landlord is selling the property.
I'm a huge fan of the area and would love to stay.
I have a budget of £500 pcm inclusive of bills.
If you can help, please call Eileen on: 07980 663606.
Thank you.
Comments
On a positive note I know of many people who have got bargains in the private sector.
We've been looking for years to move out of our tiny one-bed flat into a larger one, but rents have outpaced our salaries. We'd have to pay an extra £200 a month to get anything even remotely decent.
£500 a month for a room seems very low. That's the equivalent of £1,000 a month for a two-bed flat. A two-bed in SG goes for £1500+, excluding bills.
We may be in a recession, but there are still plenty of people who want to live here, and who can afford it.
The local housing allowance for a one-bed flat is much more generous than what we can afford to pay. One friend had to move out of her lovely flat once she got a job. She couldn't afford to pay what housing benefit was paying.
I have no problem with landlords charging what the market can bear. I'm just not thrilled with the government pushing up the market price while benefit recipients complain that it's not enough.
It's not really fair that someone who has never paid a penny in tax, and has no intention of ever getting of their arse and doing a days work should have a flat in an expensive area. Obviously there are genuine cases where people need help, but it seems bonkers to me that situations like this exist.
I'm sure people that have claimed benefits for years like this would soon find a job if they were told they had to move to a towerblock in an undesirable area if they wanted benefits to pay for it!
Hmm, I'm sounding like a tory now too.....
I think that this view equating social housing with housing benefit is a bit of an over-dramatisation. Yes, I'm sure many people who live on council estates claim benefits, but the vast majority of people who live in properties provided by my social housing group work (including myself). I think social housing cuts out the middle-man when done properly. And many operate without any subsidies from the government apart from a few interest free loans. It's a positive solution to the housing situation. And many of these properties are low grade and require the tenants to put in a lot of effort to bring them up to a standard, which is fair enough.
My friend is looking for a room in a shared house and may have better luck in the Crouch End area as there are a lot of large houses there not yet turned into flats or bed sits. Also during a recession you get people taking in lodgers.
Crouchy is great but of course Stroud Green is better.... ;)