I am a struggling actor living in London and for the last six months have been living in a very nice house with all mod cons with some great friends. The problem is each month i'm only just making enough money to pay the rent by working soul-sapping temp jobs(i'm at one now) which leaves me no time or money to do what i want to do or even LIVE. My cousin has offered me a room in a squat just down the road which would be rent free. However, the place is riddled with damp rot and rife with drugs and there's no hot water but the lack of rent means i could live my life and do the things i want to do. WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
2007-02-08 03:48:35 · 14 answers · asked by mattJ 3 in Travel ➔ United Kingdom ➔ London
yes I can see why you would want to leave " a nice house with all mod cons and great friends" to go and live in a filthy, drug riddled squatt.
decisions....decisions.
2007-02-08 03:54:12 · answer #1 · answered by looby 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
There are lots of people who live in squats - not on drugs or anything - just want to LIVE and not spend their lives in **** jobs. Not all squats are damp and uncomfortable - some are actually done quite nicely. If the only squat you know about is the damp ridden one - I suppose you should think about how much time you will be spending there. If you will mainly be going there just to sleep then maybe it would be worth a try. You can always leave if it doesn't work out. Why don't you try staying with your cousin for a week or so (but not giving up the room in your flat), just to see if you can handle the squat life!
2007-02-11 23:28:09 · answer #2 · answered by gorse9 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There's this thing, they want people to live in houses (or empty buildings including hospitals, warehouses, etc) in London as a cheap means of security to prevent vandalism and to stop people squatting- you just have to live there and that prevents those things from happening. In return you have to pay like £30 a week rent, and you have to accept that they may kick you out at any moment - you have no fixed length contract. The bad news is I can't remember what it's called, sorry. It was featured in TheLondonPaper you could try emailing them and asking. If I remember I will update this answer.
The other option is live somewhere really cheap. Try Turnpike Lane or somewhere reasonably far east, you can find a room in a shared house for like £60/week in some places (try www.gumtree.com)
2007-02-08 11:44:47 · answer #3 · answered by DS 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. Try and get a cheaper flat..
imagine if you became a star... and then they delved into your past to find that you were living in a druggie dirty squat.. wouldn't do much for your reputation.
Hunt around. Put up signs asking for cheaper flat shares etc . Get a small second job... Sell things on Ebay!!
maybe move a bit further (30 mins or so) out of london... (cheaper?!) and commute
Just don't move into the squat.. that is a bad idea okay.
2007-02-08 13:16:28 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
1. Get a proper part-time job to get decent money.
2. Find cheaper place to rent.
3. Keep up the acting.
We all lived thru tough parts before... Its just a case (sorry for the punn) of improvising... make the most of what you have. My dad had two or three jobs on the go when he was younger!
2007-02-09 03:44:17 · answer #5 · answered by --Lost in this world-- 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi!
I agree with the person who suggested to move into a private house ... the suggested agency also sounds ok....
don't stay where there are drugs ... you will only regret it ... I don't know how the police handle such things in London, but I would not want to have any sort of run in with them, it is not only bad for you, it is bad for your career ... also bad for you:
damp rot
no hot water (it is awful to heat your bath water)
Have a go at something better, not worse
Peace & Love
2007-02-08 07:43:45 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would try and find a cheaper place to rent
There are many options you can house share which will only cost around 75 a week.
Here is a link to help
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/action/publicsite.PropertySearch
Dont squat with your cousin if its damp you could get ill and that wont help your carrer.
Good luck
2007-02-08 03:55:15 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I would look around for a little room to rent in a private house.
The squat sounds dangerous.
2007-02-08 04:04:26 · answer #8 · answered by Afi 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would not move in to some stank squat! Why not find another room - perhaps a shared room - that you can get at a cheaper rate? No need to go from one extreme to another.
2007-02-08 05:01:14 · answer #9 · answered by fdm215 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yea right...you trying to run before you could even walk propperly...
Have you never heard of the saying ''You got to crawl before you can Walk''
2007-02-08 13:54:16 · answer #10 · answered by §§ André §§ 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋