Another madness house share story, I’m just going to jump right in.
I have been house sharing in London for a few years now, renting privately. My first blog post on Ebby Online was about my racist housemate who was moved in by a management company. So you can understand the fear I felt when I found out late last month, after over a year of peace at my latest residence, that the landlord of my current property was handing over the keys to a management company, to help handle the maintenance and tenants who occupy our house.
"The fact that he slyly hid this major aspect of his life is shocking to me, he knows deep down that springing this on us is sneaky and out of order."
I have been worried due to how I was last treated by Vector Property Group London, I am honestly so tired. I prefer my landlord of course but he barely has the time, as he owns multiple properties and businesses around the capital. My former housemate/friend recently sadly moved back to Italy. Rooms in our house which have been vacant for months and our new management company were looking to fill one or two.
They did not waste their time, around the middle of this week a young man I’m guessing he's in his mid to late ’20s moved in, I thought nothing of it and went about my business as usual around the house.
"His burdens are not my burdens and his sins are not my sins, I understand people have unique life circumstances but please don’t involve me in yours, I didn't sign up for this."
Saturday evening came and I walked down the stairs to hear the scuffling and roar of children, I was a little baffled as to why there were children in our house, were they just visiting my housemate, or did they just come to say hi?
I saw two young children in their nightwear running around downstairs, I also caught one of them in the bathroom on the toilet doing a poo with the door wide open for all to see, calling out for their daddy. And it suddenly dawned on me what was going on, our new housemate was a single father and it was his turn to have the kids over the weekend.
I was shook and lowkey annoyed, I never signed up to live with children and I don’t think it's fair for a house of what is meant to be young professionals to have to adapt our lives to someone and their two children. The thoughts in my mind began to swing back and forth between am I overreacting and being a bitch or is this straight-up unfair, as he had never told our landlord/management company that he would be bringing his children to stay different nights during the week, all of this was not in his contracted agreement.
The fact that he slyly hid this major aspect of his life is shocking to me, he knows deep down that springing this on us is sneaky and out of order. Omitting the truth being dishonest and sneaking in his children when it has not been agreed upon, he has the obligation to declare something like this from the beginning when you’re looking to rent being single or in a couple are taken into consideration, he just skipped over the kids part and refused to mention it all.
"Just like smoking or owning a pet, there are certain boxes you must tick when looking for a home in London and not every house will accept your baggage or bad habits."
His burdens are not my burdens and his sins are not my sins, I understand people have unique life circumstances but please don’t involve me in yours. I am not judging people who have children, but you know full well you cannot raise kids in a house-share. There are websites out there such as Movethat.com and SingleParents.com that welcome single parents, these sites specifically help you to find house-shares with other single parents.
Because young childless professionals tend not to want to live with adults with children, it causes a major lifestyle clash. Just like many of us do not want a live-in landlord; a flatmate who smokes or to live with the opposite gender, meat-free/vegan only, the list goes on. Everyone has their preferences when it comes to who they share their home with and that's ok, imagine if his kids came over and the adults in the house were having a party or acting in a manner inappropriate for children.
I do not think it's right to bring children into a house-share with people they do not know, it’s a safety issue when you think about it logically, let alone an annoyance for everyone else in the house. Having to adapt your behaviour and routines so you don’t disturb someone else's young kids, and having to think about what guests you can and cannot bring over, no loud music, and screaming crying kids etc is something I did not sign up for.
Just like smoking or owning a pet there are certain boxes you must tick when looking for a home in London and not every house will accept your baggage or habits. I know some people don't like to live with meat eaters or people who want an LGBT only house and they are allowed those preferences.
"You can have allergies to cats & dogs but not children."
I will be looking for somewhere new to live but it’s tricky right now as my life is so busy and my main focus is elsewhere. I have had a conversation with the landlord/management company and they've even said it's not on and that he shouldn't think it's acceptable, this was not in his contract. I now have a genuine reason to never have anyone back, this whole situation has thrown me off completely. I never expected this could happen at all I also feel embarrassed how am I going to explain all of this to my friends and people I invite over. I just want to live my best life and enjoy my hot girl spring-summer. Imagine my friends coming over and seeing his children on the toilet with the bathroom door open, pooing and staring at them.
I do feel a bit bad for having these opinions and for feeling this way as I love children and want to have my own when I am ready for them. I was also raised by a single parent but this is the first time I've ever heard of someone pulling a move like this. Most people with kids know this type of thing can't run in a shared house. For the same price he's paying now he could have more privacy and no housemates in our area.
I have tried to find other articles and forums where tenants have experienced the same thing and I found very little, I wanted to share this unique situation to open the discussion more; to get some advice, to hear some opinions on my situation.
Would you be annoyed if your new housemate secretly had kids, did not tell anyone and started letting them stay with no warning or would you offer to babysit?
Written by,
Ebun Felicity Hargrave
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