Your own house/flat/apartment/council house etc

[m0ds]

Just a quick query, who here (preferably in the UK) owns their own property? Does anyone rent say a bedsit or small flat & roughly how much are you paying? But moreso, does anyone here have a house or flat they found through the council - is anyone on housing benefits? Experiences needed! I'm in a tough situation and I'm considering some options. I have trouble holding down full time jobs so I can't really afford to rent my own place but I know I could afford it through the council.

I ask this because
- If i was a heavy drugs user
- If I was an asbo kid
- If i had impregnated a girl
- If I had been kicked out of home due to abuse

I would easily get a flat. But that's not me, that's not my situation. I've been asked to leave & I have every intention of trying to run my own business. But things aren't going to plan just yet, and staying here is just a nightmare. The only options I can forsee are;
- Get a full time job & lump it...this is perfectly reasonable but for some reason I just cannot handle it. I cannot handle being part of a chain, being a skivvy at the bottom, not knowing who my managers are etc etc. It leads me to depression every time and I stop working enthusiastically & start doing things for personal gain and not for the "business".
- Hit my parents a few times so I'm considered a "problem".

Well, any advice or just a kick up the ass is much appreciated!

mods

[evenwolf]

This council gives you a house if you use drugs HEAVILY?     Sounds like some B.S.!!!      Here's a sample of  London apartments off craigslist.   I know London's probably way jacked but there might also be some roomshares and private dorms and crap you'd never think of.   the best idea is to get a couple roommates and maybe even share a room.    Its affordable is the only reason.

Apts:
http://london.craigslist.org/apa/

Sublets:
http://london.craigslist.org/sub/

Roomshare:
http://london.craigslist.org/roo/


I'm in a similar situation as you with money-making vs. creative endeavors.   I just cannot give in to the dark side.   Most jobs I could get outside of the entertainment industry are dead ends for me anyway.   So I'm doing videography right now to try to pay the bills.    While its not screenwriting or filmmaking, it does give me plenty of camera work experience.      So I would advise taking on something that is a compromise.   Don't "sell out" and do something completely dead end.  Do something you won't quit because you KNOW it lends you something.

[Stupot]

You seem to be a very talented chap Mods.  I don't know if you've already done courses or whatever, or if you've taught yourself everything you know, so what I'm about to say might be pointless... but hear me out.

What if you take a course in digital music or whatever they call your area of expertise.  If you already feel you know enough then how about another course in something related to what you do... the reason I say this is because if you are in further education you may well be able to apply for financial assistance with rent and stuff... I'm not sure of the ins and outs but it might be worth having a look into.

Also this way you get to kill two birds with one stone.  Expand your knowledge and get financial help.

[scotch]

Can't give advice on flat rentals since I still live at home (pay some rent, but it's way cheaper). However, Stupot's suggestion could be an option, if it appeals to you. It's in these coming few months they're (secretly) desperate to give people places on unfilled courses, and you can get a university placement as long as you show some enthusiasm. You're over 21 so it's purely up to the course leader if they want to allow you a place. You wouldn't get loads of loan/grant money, but enough to pay the rent and get by, and the loan terms are pretty good. And of course it gives you more options in the future.

If you weren't planning on studying anymore that's probably not too enticing, though.

[Hudders]

I own my own house... kind of. More like the mortgage company owns 99% of it and I share the other 1% with my girlfriend, (currently we're only allowed to live in the bath, but soon...).

A word of advice about running your own business: if it's going to be legit, you can't do it from a council house. As the council own the house outright, they get to decide what the premises are used for. If you use it for anything other than a residence, (including having the address as your "business address"), and you get found out, you're screwed.

Most councils I'm aware of have a pretty long waiting list anyway. You'd probably be waiting a long time, especially since more worthy people and families will leapfrog you in the queue.

- Get a full time job & lump it...this is perfectly reasonable but for some reason I just cannot handle it. I cannot handle being part of a chain, being a skivvy at the bottom, not knowing who my managers are etc etc. It leads me to depression every time and I stop working enthusiastically & start doing things for personal gain and not for the "business".

Welcome to the real world.

[radiowaves]

"Here was a bad joke"

Good luck with finding a place though!

[Meowster]

radiowaves, I just came to browse these forums and that's the second amazingly silly thing I've read from you in the space of about a minute.

Mods: What are you doing at the moment, and what's this business eh? Have you considered not working for a soulless corporation, but applying at new media companies or entertainment companies where the hours are good, the work fun and the benefits aplenty?

I don't know how much money you have coming in, but the rent in my two-bedroomed house was £216 per month (because a couple was living in one bedroom so the rent was divided between three people).

[m0ds]

Thanks for all the advice here, I appreciate it! Just so you know I just finished my 2 year college course in an area I feel is best for where I want my career to go and that was media - moving image. I got my 360 UCAS points but I don't plan to go to Uni. I tried to go to uni when I was 21 but they didnt accept me (because I had been making fiction up to that point, not factual) - and that pissed me right off so I decided uni wasn't for me. It seems almost everywhere I turn is fraught with problems, and I can't even seek a bit of sanctuary here at home - which is why I've been told to get a full time job by...err...friday, or I have to leave. But there is a saying I love a lot; I'd rather be a failure at something I love than a success at something I hate. Which to me says screw a full time job & do what makes you happy

As evenwolf knows finding work in this kind of area isn't all that easy, and when you do get work, it's often short jobs that last 4 or 5 days and then you spend the next month looking for another 4-5 day stint. Luckily though I have just been given some contact details for camera & editing work by someone who works for Sky Sports, so I'm going to follow those up. And I've also found that one of my old neighbours is a line producer for a Phillip Pullman novel adaptation. And if it's picked up by a movie studio there are very generous rewards. So I'm trying to twist her leg to get me involved.

Anyway, now I'll go back to the case in point. Housing!

jesse, firstly, thanks for the links I will definitely check them out.

Stupot, thanks for your kind words & advice. I am mostly self taught but the problem is every industry uses software I have rarely used & cannot afford to buy. For example, Final Cut Pro, After Effects blah de blah. So that's always a big barrier.

If I were to go to uni I'm sure I'd be able to sort out some kind of accomoation & at a reasonable price but I don't plan to do that now. But, thanks scotch - I may keep uni under consideration. It's never too late to attend.

Hudders, yep. I know I should lump it the question is I can't. Some people have depression & have medication. Some people have SAD syndrome & need time off work. Me, I have 9-5 disorder that leaves me mental!

Radiowaves - unfortunately where I'm from that's the way it is. Drug dealers get flats. Nuisance families get houses. Asian families with 20 children who claim benefits & don't work get houses. Crack addicts win 200,000 on the lottery. And someone who wants to work honestly at something they love...they get jack shit. That's the beauty of being a middle class male. You either earn or you're fucked.

Yufster, I have a part time barman job, earning a little on the side through video projects around town & hopefully soon myself & a forum member here will be releasing a $5 game. The "business" is the same business I've been working on for 10 years.... Still. £216 per month for a 2 bedroom house is very very good. But I'm only pulling in about 100 a month at the moment after rent/bills etc.

Anyway thanks again, you've all given me lots to think about

[evenwolf]

ALSO here's something I never realized.  there are listings on that website for more UK cities.

aberdeen
belfast
birmingham
brighton
bristol
cambridge
cardiff / wales
devon / cornwall
east anglia
east midlands
edinburgh
glasgow
hampshire
leeds
liverpool
london
manchester
newcastle
oxford
sheffield

Unfortunately only London is the only one with a user base right now.   Each city also has classified job sections for television/ film & graphic design.   Again, London:

http://london.craigslist.org/tfr/      (tv, film, radio)
http://london.craigslist.org/med/  (art, media, design)   

[m0ds]

Great site, thanks! I will explore it further

I've just found out that I may be the behind the scenes director for the butterfly tattoo (by phillip pullman) which release is apparently going to coincide with the adaptaion of his novel "The Golden Compass" with Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Kevin Bacon ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0385752/ ) ...which is pretty awesome. And there's money involved :p

But this has nothing to do with housing lol!

[Pumaman]

The cheapest place I've rented cost me about £250/month for a room in a shared house with four other people, no living room and a small shared kitchen & bathroom.

Realistically you're not going to get anything cheaper than that but if you really want to get out of home, even a minimum wage job working 40 hours a week would bring you in about £760/month after tax which would allow you to do it. Obviously that wouldn't leave you much time for your real interests like film, though.

[Ali]

You could try living in the North, it's a bit cheaper up here. My rent is about £250 and I share a flat with my girlfriend. It doesn't have a tower or a secret passage, but it has everything else I need.

The North's alright if you don't mind the horses and traps and constant flat-cap-wearing (there actually are horse drawn carriages where I live, but flat caps are only work by trendy hairdresser types).

I'd suggest University, how could you turn down three years of scarf-wearing, book reading, joblessness? Plus opportunities to use the software and hardware that's otherwise difficult to get your hands on.

Good news about the behind the scenes film, I hope you get it!

[Layabout]

I live in a 4 bed semi with another guy, he charges me £240 per month. With no savings, going into a 9-5 job you will struggle for the first 2 months.

I would suggest you go to www.gumtree.com, click on the area you want (i guess that would be oxford). Easyroommate.co.uk is good as well, probably better.

Anyway goodluck mate.