It’s been a long time since I gave an update on the housing situation, so here it is! This is, of course, the very-on-going series about houses and me.
So far this series has focused on my experiences searching, finding, getting, arranging, moving into and subsequently living in my first house. It was a rollercoaster journey, and still is in some ways, although now I’m just living the dream rather than making sure the dream happens.
My current house is great, my housemates are amazing and the landlord is very helpful. It’s been a brilliant home for my second year at university and a completely different experience to living in halls last year. So much so that I think I’ve actually enjoyed living in the house this year more than living in halls, just because there’s such a nice atmosphere here. I might be a bit biased because I also love cycling to university everyday, it’s such a great way to get your head in gear and wake up before the day starts.
Next year is going to be completely different again, with my placement at Sony in Basingstoke lined up for 12 months. Since the start of 2010, when placement hunting really kicked in full time, I started to wonder where I’d live next year. It was a very hard question to answer at the time since I had no way of knowing where I would be working, and until that was set in stone, looking for houses would be like looking for a shoe without knowing the wearer.
I didn’t want to get a house in Guildford if it would be easier to live at home, and Josh was in the same position. We talked about it often and one day came to the conclusion that doing something was going to be more productive than doing nothing. At the time Josh knew two other housemates looking for a house in Guildford who needed two more housemates to get a 4-bedroom house. Josh was good friends with them both, so we agreed to be a four for the time being.
Josh’s friends then started looking at 4-bedroom houses. All the while Josh and I were still looking for placements. Occasionally Josh was told that they’d looked at a house, but they didn’t want it; and this continued for weeks.
Then I got the Sony placement. A week and a half later, Josh’s friends found a house they wanted to live in. Josh went to have a look and said it was amazing, so the following day all four of us met up for the first time and viewed the house together.
It was the first time I’d met my housemates, and the first time I’d gone to view a house this year. Believe me this house is amazing. The rooms are much bigger than the ones in our house at the moment, and it’s getting a new kitchen for when we move in. It’s closer to uni than we are at the moment (and closer to the railway station). I was blown away.
As for Josh’s friends, Chris and Chris (who I will now refer to as Nash and Chris to avoid confusion), I’d met Nash before and we get on really well, and Chris and I had an interesting talk and got on immediately. So it was a done deal.
That evening Josh and I went to their house for dinner and I got to know them both a bit more. Nash is a second year Maths student, and has just stepped down as president of the Christian Union. Josh and Nash lived in halls together last year and are pretty much best friends. Chris is a first year PHD student working at the Surrey Satellite Centre and currently lives with Nash.
Chris is going to be our lead tenant and he is very kindly organising all the paperwork at the moment so we can sign the tenancy for the house ASAP.
We are going to move into the house mid-August, so I’ll be living at home for a few months when I start work at Sony.
Overall, the decision to live in Guildford again next year, instead of living at home, was tough. But in the end, being close to my friends who aren’t going on placement, and being able to live with Josh for another year is going to be incredible, and made it a no-brainer!
