It’s Happening

• Council phoned me yesterday to ask if I’d be able to go to a viewing today for a flat which they’d kept aside specifically for me as they thought it would be ideally suitable.
• They knew the landlord was starting viewings on Friday after redecorating and wanted to get me in ahead. They put in a good word for me.
• Shortly after that the council phoned me again at 3.30pm and asked if I could actually go and view it at 5pm since the landlord was going to the flat to decorate then. So I quickly began getting ready— aggressively trimming my beard, washing and getting changed.
• I knew from google maps that the flat was very nearby (60 seconds scooter ride!) and had no entrance steps, and was part of a block set back from the road with parking space around it and a grassy area at the front and side. Some of the upper flats had plants on their balconies.
• The council told me the landlord was very nice.
• The landlord turned up with her partner and both were remarkably personable and laid back. On the face of it you couldn’t pick a bigger opposite to what I’ve currently got.
• Their previous tenant was with them nine years! That definitely looks good.
• The flat is more of a ‘bedsit’ with a single sleeping/living room, with separate bathroom and a tiny cubicle kitchen. It would basically be like what I have now but with my own kitchen and bathroom. Thankfully I am used to cooking with just my slow cooker in a corner so the small kitchen won’t bother me.
• The bathroom has a bath! Which is a bonus. It wasn’t at all a given and is very welcomed. Warm baths were great for my knees and I haven’t had the luxury for two and a half years now. I haven’t had a shower for two years either.
• The flat was possibly the best-located of all of them— it’s one of only a few which were facing onto the grassy area and has a sliding door onto it in addition to the internal front-door. You can sit out there in the sun and because it’s on the side of the building adjacent to the boundary it’s secluded. The grass surrounds the front and side of the flat.
• The landlord told me at the viewing that they were happy with me and that I seemed friendly.
• In addition to me contacting the council to give the feedback the landlord has also definitively contacted them to say they’re happy for me to move in and go ahead with the process! We’ve also got a text conversation going, even with some bants and she finishes every message with a 🌸.
• When I did the housing assessment with the council, I only got accepted by assuring them that my parents would increase the money they are sending in order for me to afford it, due to having additional bills over what I pay now. If not for that, I’d still be screwed and the only other way to afford it would be through getting those disability payments…which in the best possible case is still excluding people without disabilities…and I need my car for my mobility but I can’t get the payments to cover it without my parents helping. This country is a catch-22 and I am just lucky, and I don’t like that at all. I didn’t actually ask my parents beforehand either, only afterwards.
• I still don’t know what the neighbours (in particular the one above) will be like of course but the place so far on the face of it ticks more boxes than I could’ve imagined possible.
• I could move in by next Monday or even this Friday— which of all days is my birthday…

🌪