Brown Girl in London

Movin' on out

We got the flat! Yesterday we called the estate agent and took the flat at Finsbury Park. Went over to the office, signed the papers, and paid the holding deposit. As of Monday we've got an address! It's really wicked - it's a major step cementing our committment to making this adventure work.

The holding deposit is an amount you pay signalling your intent to take the flat; it removes it's availability to others who may be interested. After this we have to pay the first month's rent and a security deposit of 6 weeks minus the holding deposit we initially paid. We get the security deposit back when we move out - so far that'll be in 6 months when our lease is up. That's one of the good things about renting here, the term is much shorter than the usual year lease you get in the GTA. So if this doesn't work out or we want to try something different, we're not locked in for a long time.

We also have to register with the Council Tax office - council tax is a tax that all households pay to the local government for upkeep of the area - like cutting lawns in public gardens. Then we have to take care of electric, water and heat. It's a good thing we're in the warm seasons so we won't have to use much heat, if any. The estate agent estimates it'll cost us about 120GBP extra - I'm pretty sure we'll be able to handle that.

Next task...jobs! jobs! jobs!

posted by RC @ 4:08 AM