Bethnal Green is my old stomping ground, my manor, my endz. Yes, of course, like most people who live in and around London, I’m not a true Londoner. I would never claim to be “from the East End”. I don’t even affect a Mockney accent. I was never a proper Eastender. I never had pie, … [Read more…]
I am finally on the other side of a four-day headache and am here to share with you a party political broadcast. Because you definitely haven’t had enough of that already, right? Last General Election I lived in Ilford North – a hotly-contested marginal seat. For those of you unfamiliar with UK politics – a … [Read more…]
At age 22, preparing to leave university with a degree in English, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I had narrowed it down though: London. I wanted to be in London. Armed with this – admittedly wide-ranging criterion – I set about looking for graduate schemes that would guarantee me working in … [Read more…]
A buy-to-let landlord’s lot is not an easy one. The word “landlord” itself evokes ideas of stern but benevolent gentlefolk, riding through their lands wearing a top hat, distributing food to their poor tenants, and occasionally diving into murky ponds à la Colin Firth’s Mr Darcy. As a wealthy landowner, one of course needs do … [Read more…]
For the last four days, water has been pouring through the ceiling of one of the properties we rent out. Evil slumlords that we are (we’re totally not), it has been almost impossible to rectify this problem because the origin of the leak is in the flat above… and we have had no way of … [Read more…]
Because I clearly did something very wrong in a previous life, in this one I have been reincarnated as a buy-to-let landlord. In addition to most of the world (especially Mumsnet and The Guardian) automatically assuming I’m a wealthy slumlord, personally preventing the youth of today from getting on the property ladder, I also have … [Read more…]
Many times over many years it has been debated who has it easier – the parent on maternity leave (pyjama days, coffee with friends, free time when the baby sleeps) or the parent who goes to the office (adult conversation, cup of hot tea, eating biscuits without your head in the cupboard). What I have … [Read more…]