House sharing
Published on 07/03/2008 23:00:16

I'm currently going through the process of hunting for a new housemate to live with and am getting a little bit bored by the whole process to be honest. I'm well used to house sharing now, having been sharing with various people in various houses for the past 11 years.

My first was when I was at University in Exeter. I moved into a typical student house (5 bedroom Victorian terrace) with one guy who i already knew (Pete) and 3 other randoms who I only met upon moving in. It turned out to be an interesting mix. Me and my friend Pete got on fine, we had no TV in the communal room, so we'd generally sit around playing card games and drining endless cups of tea in the evening. The other housemates consited of 3 girls: To protect the innocent I am not going to metion any names. so lets call them A B and C. Housemate A was An American exchange student, who was quite loud but smart, funny and entertaining. upon arriving in exeter she proceeded to get drunk alot, being under 21 legally drinking in a pub was a whole new experience for her. Housemate B was a slightly unhinged Bristolian, who found living away from her parents a strain, which subsequently made living with her a strain. House meetings were a frequent occurence with B getting upset because A had dared to use B's tin of beans or something trivial. Housemate C was notable for getting very drunk and collapsing on the floor. an unusual thing about her was that her feet absolutely stunk. The next year she was replaced by housemate D who my mate pete got on with really well, so well in fact that they married a few years later.

Post university I stayed around in Exeter for the summer in quite a decrepit but nice house with large back garden. It was quite a relaxing time, living with people who i got one with (2 of which are now still my closest friends). The only really bizarre event in that house was the infamous 'Lesbian Barbeque' incident. Moving to london I ended up lodging for a while before moving to another shared house out near Staines, when i got a job in Chertsey. This had a strange mixture of people coming and going in it. Because it wasn't really London, our choice of housemates was limited and so had to take whoever the landlord could get. for about 3 months of my 3 year stay there we had near enough the perfect mix of people. For most of the rest of the time it was crap.

So we fast-forward a few years to today. The house I live in is great, apart from the leaning walls Its a nice place. less than five minutes to a train that drops me off 5 minutes from work, a quiet back garden a few minutes walk from Greenwich park and the rent (importantly) is pretty cheap. Also, crucially, its been a settled home in regards to the people living there. Its a world away from that first place I had in exeter its proved to me that a shared house does not have to be like a student house. But there are still times when I wish I had my own place. Living in London, my only hope for that (unless I get a substantial pay rise ) is that my number comes up for a big prize on the premium bonds. So I'm stuck here trying to find a housemate to fill the 3rd room in the house before the next rent cheque is due. I have 3 coming round on monday and 3 on tuesday. Hopefully one of them will be perfect, and not say yes to the place and then pull out at the last minute, after you have rung up the other people to turn them down, (as did the girl last week) Arggggghhh!

Tags: house, sharing, housemate