I've been offered a flat

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Or, more accurately, I'll probably be offered a flat. Technically speaking it hasn't happened yet, but I'm at the top of the shortlist and I'm going to have a viewing/interview at the end of January.

Dunno if anyone remembers, but I was having endless problems with housing. Would be too long to recap it all, but it had got to the stage of declaring myself 'homeless' to the council and expecting to be moved into homeless accommodation (or be kicked off the housing register altogether). There was a sudden turnaround just before Christmas: I received a letter from the council saying they had moved me from a band D to a band B. I knew that would massively increase my priority for housing - you can be waiting years for a place on a band D rating - but not by quite how much. No way I was expecting to be offered a flat this quickly.

My hopes were raised by my housing officer telling me that they were 'lovely flats'. I had visions of sitting out on the balcony overlooking the communal garden. Thing is, I actually visited the flats today and it's not quite what I was expecting. The particular block I'll be in is on top of a busy main road. I'm worried now I'll have a crap view of the main road and have to deal with the noise of traffic. It would be so much better if I was in a block at the back of the compound. On the plus side, the buildings are surprisingly attractive from the outside at least.

Beggars can't be choosers, etc. etc. Should I just try to be grateful for having any place to live at all? I'm so bad at making the best of things: I'm always concentrating on what's wrong rather than what's right. On the other hand I'm just worried I'm too close to the town centre, and that this road is going to be too busy. I did also want a view of a garden or, at the very least, something more f***ing calming than a busy road.

Bleurgh. I've got a cold, so excuse my cold-related ramblings *sniffles* :3

Gratz. I'd take it.

I know you aren't huggy-wuggy so I'm just gonna leave this here:

Plant yer own garden. It'll be better anyway, and you could grow some tea leaves.

Shape it how you want it.

Sounds good to me. Looks like you'll be getting stable housing.

Thanks Norny.

But where am I going to plant my own garden? In the living room? :-/

I'm still worried about the noise aspect. I'll never be able to open the windows either, although to be fair I'm not a great window-opener.

Why the hell not?



Not sure what you can do about this personally, but living there is better than nothing.

Can't you plant some flowers on your window sill? People do that in NYC all the time.

I would guess that you apartment building has some kind of garden or courtyard?

Why can't you open the windows?

Because the sounds of roaring traffic would not be music to my ears, to put it extremely mildly.



Well maybe, it depends how bad it is.

What is the chance of getting another offer if you decline this offer?
Is there a chance of moving into another flat in the back of the compound, if one becomes available after you move into this one?
Is it a busy road with shops and people walking around and lots of slow traffic, or a busy road with no one walking and constant swoosh swoosh of fast traffic?
I would have big problem with second one, I've never lived anywhere like that before.
The first one seems less bad, in my opinion.

Is your flat in an apartment building, or is it a separate unit--perhaps attached to other units--but you have a separate entrance for yourself?

I have up to 3 choices. However, I'm not sure if it would affect my banding/priority if I turned down this place.

I'd have to ask my housing officer, but I suspect my chances of moving into another flat at the back of the compound are slim to none... :-/

- this one >_<

@kraftie - Um, I dunno. First one, I think. Edit: Okay I think I see what you mean now. Definitely the first one.

Is there a community garden nearby that needs volunteers?

No idea, m8. There is supposedly a communal garden, but I didn't see much sign of it when I was there.

Ack, all I've succeeded is in depressing myself even more. My cold is getting worse and Blinky is off-centre again. I'm off to bed... =/

:/

Sounds like you need to start looking at Goodwill and similar stores for the thickest fabric you can find to make window treatments. Maybe even buy some used quilts or something. You should also put some shrubs and ferns and such near the windows. Supposedly that will help. In any case, it'll give you something nice to look at.

If you're looking at a giant sliding glass door, buy borrow, or create out of crates, a nice thick book case and load it up with books or blankets and towels or clothes.

If your new home doesn't have carpeting, buy some rugs from Goodwill or braid a nice ig thick one out of old rags. You could even use cloth coffee bags from a coffee shop if you have to.

Reduce the vibrations any way you can to cut down on the noise.

For your own sanity, you're going to need a good set of headphones. Preferably the kind people use when they shoot guns.

Why don't you take the flat, but keep in touch with the housing officer about switching to a quieter flat at ground level, or at the back, when one becomes available? Explain your situation to the housing officer about your concern about the noise aspect, but graciously accept his offer to move into the top flat. You may have to accept the fact that you won't be able to open the windows at night due to the traffic noise and will have to wear ear plugs in order to sleep. If you don't hear back from the housing officer within a couple of months, ring him back to ask if there are any available quieter flats in the block coming up and if he says no, keep ringing him back up every couple of months. Keep you eyes open if any of the quieter flats are about to be vacated by one of the other tenants and if so, ring the housing officer up immediately.

Okay, so, you got to the top of the list by claiming to be homeless. I would imagine that by turning down a flat under those circumstances, that would either put you in category d or cause action to take you off the list entirely. There are always negatives, everywhere. I would put on my headphones and make that flat into something special. Others have posted some great ideas in decorating on the cheap. You are being blessed with this opportunity. Please be a little more grateful.