Housing crisis and it’s effects on my life

Here I am right in the middle of packing and stressing about my move whilst trying to finish my university work.  Fun times! I’ve lived in my mouse infested flat for over six years, most people would be glad to see the back of it, but with me to an extent I am  but then there’s a big part of me that is really sad to go, after all it’s where I brought my youngest son home to after being born.  I really did not want to move out of london but the reality of private renting is absolute nightmare.  So here I am having to settle to live in Kent where the rent is cheaper but an easy journey back into London.

Obviously, the first thing you do when looking for a home is  decide what do you need or want your home to be.  Well my list was a two bedroom home in London! Yeah that got squashed very quickly.  Looking at flats in London was great there are lots to choose from, new build, old builds, nice large flats really small flats that could be only called a shed.  Then I came to looking at the prices of them.  What can I say about the prices, well there is only one thing to say and that is wow!  Deposit alone was reaching about £2000 plus one month rent up front, another £1000 at least.  These flats were not much better than the one I’m moving from.  After calculating my finances I realised living in the capital was no longer viable for me, I was going to have to move out of London.

I looked at the whole of the UK, and seriously considered moving to Northern England, Newcastle to be precise, however, I ended up deciding against Newcastle as I wouldn’t be able to see my family or my sons family regularly.  So that left me with one option, Kent.  Off I trotted to my laptop and started looking at properties in Kent.  I was pleasantly surprised with the rent rates there almost £500 pound cheaper than London a month!  I enquired about a lot of properties but by the time I got through to the estate agents they were all gone.  With a month left until my leaving date I was in such a panic.  My anxiety flared right up and so did insomnia.  I was awake day and night in a right old state!  Finally I found a little bungalow for rent and was excited.  Low and behold, I rang up the estate agent and the house was gone but the estate agent said “I’ve got a two bed house with a garden available to rent that hasn’t been put on the website would you like to view it?”  Of course I jumped at the chance.

So two days later I jump on the train to Chatham to view the house.  I walked into the house and instantly fell in love!  I put down a holding a fee within an hour of seeing it.  So next comes the conditions.  Most estate agents now require a guarantor that is a home owner and earns over £25k a year.  Realistically, how many people know someone who could do that for them?  I am in a fortunate position where I could reach these conditions.  I went through the referencing, however, even with a garauntor I failed to reach their requirements.  With only a week and half left to go until I have to leave this flat panic really set in.  I rang the estate agent and discussed the options I had available.  The only real option available was to pay six months rent plus the deposit in advance.  I made some phone calls and managed to raise the £6500 pound I needed.  Excited I rang the estate agent.  The estate agent brought it to the landlord and they agreed to me paying the six months in advance but they needed to verify the legality of this.  This was two hours of hell waiting for word.  Finally the phone rang, but it was not news that I wanted to hear.  It was so bad I had to ask them to put it in email so I could see myself if it was legal.  This is a copy of the email sent to me.

Hi Emma

Further to your application to rent 39 Chamberlain Road the Landlord insurance will not cover rent arrears for payment in advance.  This means that after your first six months payment if you do not pay a further six months at month 7 or be re-referenced to pay monthly the Landlord could potentially have loss of rent if you remain in the property.

Therefore, The Landlord is willing to accept you as a tenant with an additional three months’ rent to cover this risk.  This will be kept at Martin and Co as a retention and used only if rent is unpaid while you are at the property.

The balance of monies due are as follows:

9 months rent   £6975 less £150 holding fee paid                £6825.00

Deposit                                                                                                £1073.00

Check Out Fee                                                                                  £ 100.00

Total Amount                                                                                    £7998.00

I will email the draft contract by Friday, if you have any queries please call me.

Regards

Sandra Walters

This left me to find a further £1500.  To make a long story short I managed to get the money together.  This is the reality of renting privately now.  I understand the nessesatity to protect the landlord, but the ways in which they do it leaves the tenant in a bad position.  Expecting to pay around £2000 to rent it has gone four times higher. Fittingly, the day after agreeing to pay their asking price there was a news story about the position of renting privately.  Here is a link to the news story

http://news.sky.com/story/uk-housing-crisis-could-mark-return-of-slums-10507668

Renting in the capital is no longer viable for the majority.  I hope that the government fix these problems in the near future as this is going to lead to a big rise in homelessness.  I hope that no one is put into the same position I have been put into.

My Future Course

Here I am just finishing up my last few days of my foundation level university course at London Met.  It has taken me many years to take the leap into further education but now here I am flourishing.  In the beginning I was apprehensive about doing the foundation year but now at the end I am delighted that I was put on this course.  I have learned allot about what is expected of me in the next few years.  I have learned my weaknesses and strengths and look forward to flourishing even more next year.

At the beginning of this year I was confidence I was going to study English Literature.  The after starting on the foundation year I changed my mind and decided that I wanted to study English Literature and Education.  However, I then changed my mind again and played around with the idea of studying criminology.  In the end I decided no!!! I want to be true to myself and it is still my ambition to become a book editor, hence my decision to revert back to my original course choice of English Literature.

As a keen reader, I look forward to studying about the history of English literature and reading many books over the next three years.  I enjoy writing reviews and have taken part in book clubs before and love discussing books and dissecting characters, plots and relationships in the book.  And to sound even weirder, I even enjoy writing Essays!!!!! Well that is when I start them!  I understand there is much more to English Literature than these aspects that I have stated but now I feel emotionally ready to tackle year 1.

 

My walk

We have all got that special place where we can go for that moments piece and quite.  For me it is a walk by the river thames.  I love the calmness that comes when I walk by it.

The start of my walk is at Surrey quays.  The photo above is quite telling.  This is the entrance way to the river thames.  It’s looks quite dark and dreary but at the other side of this short tunnel is what can only be described as beauty and calmness.

This picture is taken at the other side of the tunnel.  I refer to the painting on the wall as the thinking man and I believe that this is quite accurate.  From a distance, this painting can be mistaken for someone sitting on the wall having a few moments of reflection.

Here I stopped with some bread to feed the ducks and swans.  There were not many out on this occasion but normally there are quite a few ducks and swans to be seen.  This is also the beginning of the thames at Surrey docks.

Here is just a map of the area.

The above three photos are of Surrey docks water sports centre. This is where children and adults alike can come a learn how to sail or canoe.  They offer quite reasonable rates allowing people of all financial backgrounds the chance to enjoy and learn water sports.

The above three photos are of the docks.  There is spacing for approx 100 boats of all shapes and sizes.  There are fishing boats, canal boats and yachts docked here.  Many of the boats have occupants living on them.  These boats are easy to recognise, there owners have decorated them beautifully. There are many entrances to gain entrance to the boats, which have all got security gates.  This also was a shipping yard when the thames was used for trading, but that stopped in the 1960’s.

Here you can see some of the private dwellings around the area.  These apartments are private with a one bedroom flat likely to cost in and around £2000 a month.  The area is up and coming but also offers privacy and quietness as well as an amazing view of the thames and Canary Wharf.  There is also amazing transport links here, the thames river clippers is a short 2 minute walk, the east London line a 5 minute walk, jubilee line a 10 minute walk also there is a fantastic bus network with buses going in all directions around London, a short 5 minute walk away.

This is the shipping yard.  Boats are dry docked here for repairs and up keep.

Here is the canal entrance to the river thames.  This is a place I love to bring the kids as they can see how the boats gain entry to the thames and can watch how the water level rises and lowers when boats are entering the river or coming into dock.

Next we arrive at the actual river.  In this photo you can see the thames clipper port, Greenland pier.  The river in this area is always busy and many sorts of boats can be seen around this area.

This is part of the old docks where boats in the past would come and dock carrying different materials to be sold in and around the Deptford area.  They closed down around the 1960’s after the regeneration of Deptford.

Here are some examples of boats that come up and down the area.  The first picture is of the thames experience.  People can pay to speed up and down the themes.  It’s quite popular and appears to be a trill seeking experience.  The second picture is of an older fashioned boat that is hired out for weddings and parties.  This picture doesn’t show the true beauty of this boat.  It has to be seen at night when it is lit up.

This is some of the last remaining council flats in the area around the thames.

This is argon tower.  This once was a council tower block, one of three that was built-in the 1960’s regeneration of Deptford.  Lewisham council sold if off about 10 years ago. And it was transformed into private accommodation with a nursery at the bottom.  The penthouse apartment is rumoured to have been sold at 5 million about 5 years ago.

As we enter Greenwich, I was lucky to capture a picture of the HMS bulwark docked in Greenwich harbour.  It was docked here in remembrance of anniversary of Jutland and also to host the peregrine trophy awards.  Here is an article about it been docked in Greenwich http://onthethames.net/2016/06/08/hms-bulwark-visits-london-host-royal-navy-photographic-awards/

As I finish my walk I can see the cutty sark.  The cutty sark is a British clipper ship.  It was built-in 1869 and was one of the last tea clippers to be built and was also one of the fastest.  The museum is very interesting but is quite expensive to visit.

IMPROVING GROVE STREET DEPTFORD

Grove Street Deptford, is situated less than quarter of a mile away from Deptford High Street.  Up until a year ago, Grove Street was separated into two halves, one side poverty-stricken and other side for wealthier people.  However, in recent months, the area has seen the beginnings of a new regeneration from companies from America, Canada, China and Japan.  Previous derelict areas now obtain sparkling new developments of flats, shops, offices, gyms and the likes, which the average family is unable to afford.  Neither of these two situations are acceptable.  There should be no separation of the “rich” and the “poor” nor should families that have lived in the area for years be forced to move out of London because they cannot afford the rates of these new unrealistic rates of rent.  It is up to us the people of Deptford to lobby against these drastic changes that affects us, our families and the local area.  For this reason I am outlining a plan of action to improve our area for the benefit of everyone.

 

HOUSING AND THE LOCAL COMMUNITY

Lobby the council to stop selling off land and using the money they have obtained from sales of previous land to build more social housing.  Ensure that a fair percentage of the current new builds is offered as social housing.  If land is to be sold off, it should be sold to trusts that deal with social housing, for example, Guinness or mosaic family housing.  Integrate the two communities together making a larger healthier community.  Introducing schemes like neighbourhood watch and having the community centre play a bigger role in the community.  Ensure that the area has more street cleaners and that the area is cleaned regularly.  Ensure the parks are well maintained and kept clean and save ensuring that there are no drug equipment or liquor bottles left lying around.

 

CRIME

As previously stated ensure a neighbourhood watch scheme is set up, with regular meetings.  More policing in the area, with the introduction of community officers.  Have a zero tolerance on crime in the area.  Introduce speed bumps to the area.  Tackle the problem of motorbikes and scooters being driven on the footpaths.  Re-introduce barriers on the footpaths so people take more care on bycles, leaving children free to play safely outside the flats.  Re- open the police station 365 days a year 7 days a week.

 

SCHOOLS AND YOUTH PROJECTS

Ensure the existing school improves academically but also ensuring it keeps the work up that they do in the local community.  Build an additional primary and secondary school to ensure there are enough placements for all children in the area, due to the rise in development.  Ensure that children are educated to the highest standard.  Ensure the safe keep of the sure start centre.  Improve the existing youth centre and encourage the local youths to use the facilities.  Set up more clubs in the area that are accessible for all youths.

 

SHOPS AND LOCAL AMMENITIES

Ensure that the front of the buildings are kept welcoming.  Stricter rules on renting the properties.  Enforce cleanliness.  Safe guard the local businesses.

 

HEALTH CARE

Lobby for better appointment systems that allow fairer and easier access to see doctors.  Regular checks to ensure safety of patients.  Pharmacy improvements and better stock of medications.

 

With these proposals we can make Grove Street a better place for all to live.

Emma Fogarty

Creating a Better Deptford

Deptford SE8, in South East London, was once a community to be proud of, however, with the closure of the docks and the regeneration in the 1960’s led to the area becoming one built on poverty and has not recovered since.

The market place, once full of life and pride, has become dismal and shameful.  An area that is multi – cultural should shine through the local community, however, walking through Deptford High Street can be summed up in one word, ” Depressing.” The shops are run down and in some cases dirty.  High crime rates can be seen throughout the high street, drugs freely been sold on the street and the most recently the London marathon scandal, where local residents were recorded steeling bottles of water, which was broad casted on major UK news channels.

As part of a class project, two fellow students and myself were asked to write a proposal to improve Deptford High Street.  Our proposals are as fallows:

 

TACKLING CRIME

More policing is needed in the area and the police station re- opened 24hrs a day 7 days a week.  Tackle knife, gun and drug crime, with major emphasis on tackling drug dealers.  Educate the local community, and encourage local residents to report crime.

 

EMPLOYMENT

Set up local resources for helping people back in to work and introduce training schemes.  Create more jobs in the area and encourage employers to employing people from the local community.  Get more people volunteering in the local area.

 

EDUCATION AND YOUTH RESOURCES

Hold talks in schools encouraging youths to make more informed choices.  Help schools provide more help to family’s in poverty situations.  Set up more after school clubs helping family’s with childcare.  Improve youth clubs and set up more giving the youth places to go that are not the streets.

 

HOUSING

Lobby council to make more affordable housing that is realistic for low-income family’s.

 

HEALTH

Tackle the issues around appointments availability.  Ensure guidelines been followed.

 

SHOPS AND LOCAL AMMENTITIES

Clean up the streets.  Stricter rules on shops.  Improvements to buildings and shops.  Encourage a wider range of shops.  Open more market plots and ensure cleanliness.  More policing.

 

WRITTEN BY

Emma Fogarty

Agatha

Vernelle