Oh no, not again…
Shortly before Christmas, Heike and I received a
letter telling us that we had to move out of our new flat by the end of January
because the landlord had decided not to extend our contract. It later transpired
that he was having some kind of financial problems and the letting agency had
decided to warn us in their usual cack-handed and unprofessional manner that we
may be forced to vacate the premises in case the bank decided to repossess the
property as had happened on a previous occasion with another landlord. In the
end, the matter was resolved, but the landlord then decided to hike the rent
quite substantially, effectively forcing us to move out anyway, as we were
already paying as much as we could afford and had made that clear from the
start.
Apart from being incredibly pissed off and
annoyed about the whole thing (we were originally told that the landlord was
looking for a long-term tenant and was specifically flexible on the rent for
that reason), it came as a massive shock, especially with there being only one
week to go before Christmas. Heike and I had both just started to feel settled
in the new place and were beginning to relax and concentrate on other things.
It's been quite a tough year for both of us and we were really looking forward
to some much needed R&R over the Christmas
period.
Fortunately, however, a whole
load of flats in the same development (Centurion Square) had recently come onto
the market and so I set about trying to find us a new place. I'm glad to say
that we've now managed to find another flat and all going according to plan, we
will be moving on the 27th January. Although I'm still not very happy about the
whole situation, it's good that we only have to move across the courtyard,
although when you take into account the additional agency fees, telephone
connection costs, etc. it still works out quite
expensive.
The new place is very much
like the old one, only a little smaller and on the 3rd (rather than the 1st)
floor. We have a nice view over the Square and the rooftops of the city,
although the windows are a little small and don't open all the way out for
safety reasons, so it may get rather hot during the summertime—I'm not
sure what we're going to do with all the plants, but some sacrifices may have to
be made! We managed to negotiate the same rent as we're currently paying
(£550/month), although this time the contract is for a year rather than six
months, so hopefully we'll avoid a repeat of the current situation. It had been
bad enough moving once every year for the past few years due to our respective
university studies, but once every six months really is too much, especially
when you have all your own furniture and
stuff.
Anyway, hopefully the move won't
be too much of an upheaval and we'll soon be back on our feet and ready to get
on with the challenges of life, which for me involves finishing my degree
without going slightly (some might say 'even more') mad, and for Heike is
finding herself a job that she really enjoys and can earn a good living doing.
But most importantly, we both just want to be able to enjoy ourselves and have a
little fun for a change. The last few years have been quite hard, and have
involved a lot of soul searching which, while important, can really take it out
of you after a while—especially at my age! (35 this year, in case you're
wondering… ;-)
Posted on Thursday - January 12, 2006 at 12:54 PM
