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• Hilarious flatmate ad

  Retweet Tuesday, 20th July 2010

  My faithful sidekick and I are looking for a new flatemate to perve on.. in return we are offering a double room in a 3-bed flat in Whitechapel (350x425 - cm of course, inches would be ridick. I had to measure this with a 15cm ruler - how degrading - so you can do the conversions if bloody inches is what you want). We're situated on the 2nd floor, 5 mins from Whitechapel tube and Shadwell DLR, as well as all the buses around Whitechapel and Commercial Rd, only a 10 min walk from Brick Lane.

  Essentially they are required to be:

  • Perve-able over (obviously)
  • Have extensive culinary knowledge
  • A compulsive cleaner
  • Rich and generous
  • .. Maybe somehow possibly get free holidays in nice places.. (anyone out there?)

  Lesser requirements:

  • Pay DA rent on time.
  • and not much else..

  We like to discuss worldly matters such as who used up the last of the hairspray, what sick shit I cooked in the toaster this time and the tappability score of the population of London. There is usually more cider and gin in our fridge than food, but do not be disheartened, we prefer to raid the bars of shoreditch and east london and relinquish their alcohol stores instead. Before we would go out to all sorts and venture further, but just can't be arsed to go far now with brick lane, shoreditch and the rest of east much closer.

  I have an unhealthy abusive relationship with my camera, enjoy all things to do with peroxide, losing my phone, buying useless, room-cluttering ikea furniture, gay boys and hanging the washing when I've used nice smelling fabric conditioner. The SHITsidekick likes eating marmalade out of the jar (FUCKING. SICK.), the term "to soil" and feta cheese. Let me know if you can live with these unwholesome addictions.

  Thanks to Carmen Ho for posting a hilarious ad. I apologize for deleting the ad initially as it contained some profanities, but none the less it deserves featuring on the blog.

  If you are looking for a flatmate to make you laugh, hit Carmen on FaceBook.

  

• Barack Obama Voted Students Ideal Flatmate

  Retweet Sunday, 16th May 2010

  

  Yes you read it right, Barack Obama was named students ideal Flatmate in a recent student poll.

  Obama’s clean-living lifestyle, high intelligence and dynamism made him the clear favourite housemate over UK politicians, a whole host of famous faces and current housemates.

  So it looks like David Cameron, Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg need to polish up their skills to be more student and flatmate friendly.

  The recent Survey was performed by www.accommodationforstudents.com, surveying over 1,100 UK University students.

  We were surprised to see that than 51% of students wanted to live with a tidy and intelligent person, confessing the current flatmates drive them crazy leaving a mess everywhere and eating each other’s food and only 14% crave a ‘rich and generous’ housemate and living with a ‘sexy and gorgeous’ flatmate was even lower at only 11%. So budge over Paris Hilton and pull up a chair Mr Obama.

• Flatshare Tenancy Agreements

  Retweet Wednesday, 3rd March 2010

  taking in a lodger or tenant the first thing you should have in place is a Tenancy Agreement.Having an agreement in place will help make sure everything runs smoothly throughout the tenancy, setting out the rent, deposit, terms and notice periods etc. These are also important If any future disputes happen, then you can refer the tenant back to the Tenancy Agreement.

  Tenancy agreements forms are now available for printing to all Pro members in the “my account” section.

  Become a Pro member and get an inclusive tenancy agreement worth 10.

• TV Presenter Kristian Digby Found Dead

  Retweet Tuesday, 2nd March 2010

  FlatMateRooms would like to pay tribute to 32 year old Property TV Presenter Kristian Digby on the recent news of his death.

  Kristian gave many homeowners all over the UK inspiration, giving them tips and advice on updating, letting, Flatsharing, buying and selling properties and was a credit to the industry.

  He came from a family property developers and was best known for presenting BBC One Property programme To Buy or Not To Buy but also hosted an array of TV programs including Buy It, Sell It, Bank It, Double Agents, Living In The Sun, House Swap, Open House and How to Survive The Property Crisis.

  Digby is believed to have had owned a number of properties worth approximately 1m and made money from buying cheap properties and renovating them.

  The Talented Presenter entertained many people especially daytime viewers and will be sadly missed.

  We found this video on You Tube showing Kristian doing what he loved.

• Mock the Week Things You Dont Want To Hear From Your Flatmate

  Retweet Friday, 18th December 2009

  After looking through You Tube this week I came across one of my much loved programs Mock the Week and found this really funny video “Things You Don't Want To Hear From Your Flatmate”

  Warning Some Strong Language is used

  If you know of any funny Flatshare related videos, stories or jokes fire them across to us using the form at the bottom of this page.

  And if your looking for a flatshare remember to visit the main site

• Landlords Get a Better Rep

  Retweet Friday, 11th December 2009

  

  Since the recession it seems that the traditional impression we have of Landlords has improved, Landlord Assistis has claims that stereotypes of the buy-to-let landlord has improved because of the Credit Crunch.

  As property prices reached their peak in 2006/2007 perception’s of landlords was typical of the 70’s sit com Rising Damp where the landlord Rupert Rigsby is greedy and miserly and a bit of a creep. When the property market was booming UK landlords were often accused of this stereotype, accused of setting high rents and not paying for repairs or maintenance to their properties.

  Since the recession a lot of people have been forced into sub standard rental accommodation, but it isn’t just tenants that have been hit, Landlords have been stuck with high mortgage payments and tougher legislation’s but Landlord Assist believe that Landlords have earned and been given a much better reputation.

  He said: “The credit crunch has forced more and more people to turn to rented accommodation over the last 18 months. This has helped to remove bad landlords from the UK rental market and made those remaining much more socially aware, with affordable accommodation and high quality customer service becoming a priority.

  “Institutional investors have also introduced high quality rental accommodation to the market and enforced others to provide better quality accommodation in order to compete.”

  Its good to see UK Landlords are getting a fairer rep, I have been in plenty of rented accommodation but only ever had good landlords, I’ve never had to put up with the Rigsby’s of this world.

• Speed flatmating

  Retweet Thursday, 10th December 2009

  

  I’ve heard of Speed dating before but recently I’ve come across the new phenomenon of speed flatmating. Landlords, flatmates, and tenants meet together at an event to spend a few minutes interviewing each other to see if they can live together.

  This speed interviewing process enables flatmates to ask questions they feel is important when finding someone to move in, landlords also get to meet potential tenants and judge them in a few minutes.

  I think speed flatmating is quite a good idea as it gets people with the same goal of renting or providing accommodation all in the same room, but I’m not sure what questions you would ask, and I don’t think 3 minutes is enough time to judge a persons character.

  However, most speed flatmating events will split you into certain groups of areas so you don’t waste time speaking to flatmates who live out of the area you are looking for. You get a good first impression and although you can’t tell everything from them you can get a good feel of whether you’re going to get on. Sharing a house mate does not mean you are going to be best mates, although can happen, so don’t go into it with too high expectations. Look for someone who asks decent questions, has a personality you can get on with and gives good answers to your questions.

  I have never been speed flatmating before but will be trying it soon (so I’ll let you know how I get on) but I’ve been thinking about what questions to ask. I’m not sure if asking hygiene questions is appropriate and probably wouldn’t give off a good impression but its a valid question when moving in together. I’ll probably stick to hobbies and interests and hope to meet someone that will join me to watch match of the day.

  If you’ve had any speed flatmating experiences, good or bad, please comment below and tell us about it!

• Probably The Best Flatmates In The World

  Retweet Wednesday, 9th December 2009

  We all know and love the Carlsberg adverts, ‘probably the best beer in the world’, well this funny video was the advert from a few years ago showing the best flatmates in the world.

  In this video, it shows a man responding to an ad in the paper for a room to rent, when he turns up he is greeted by a gorgeous girl, who likes football, a laid back guy, and another beautiful girl who won’t let anyone else cook.

  The laid back guy shows our hero around the flat, showing off a wall gadget that sucks up mess like a hoover at the touch of a button, then apologises for our hero having the box room. On entering the room it is huge with batchelor pad style decorations, then as they go onto the balcony they see the best bit of all… the balcony overlooks a football stadium.

  This advert amused many people when it came out and has been re released a few times to go out before big football matches.

  Is this what you want in a flat share?
  I’m sure many people would agree, but we can’t all be so lucky so what is important in a good flatmate?

  When sharing a flat you may know the people you move in with, or you may not, either way you will get to know them pretty well in the months or years of living together. But you have to be tolerant and understanding, when you move into a flat you come into it with your own habits as do your flatmates. When living in close proximity these habits can clash and tensions can rise but don’t let this ruin your relationship, once you get used to each other you can become good friends.

  I made my best friends when I lived with them in a flatshare and we are still mates years later. They weren’t swedish blonde and 34-24-34 but they were probably the best Carlberg drinkers in the world.

• Tenant Kicked Out of Vancouver Home for Olympics

  Retweet Tuesday, 8th December 2009

  Vancouver hosts the 2010 Winter Olympics in a few months and thousands of people will be renting short term accommodation to watch the Olympic games take place. This is great for Vancouver as the economy will benefit from this influx of people, one land lady in particular is taking advantage of this, unfortunately at the expense of her tenant.
  Sue Brown, a graduate student at Simon Fraser University, moved into a suite in Vancouver on July 1st, she was happy renting the accommodation and the lease was to end on the 31st January 2010. This was the contract that she had signed and gave her plenty of time to find somewhere to live after the new year. It was a big surprise when her landlord Mariana Gerenska informed her she had to move out.

  Sue Brown, who is studying criminology at University was given a “notice to end tenancy” two weeks ago, this unexplained act made her and the other tenants suspicious as they had all signed leases due to end next year.

  This seemed very stranged to the tenants so they asked their Mariana to explain her actions, Mariana claimed that her husband was planning to move from their rented accommodation inVictoria in February. They were also expecting seven family members who were travelling from Bulgaria to be with them for the birth of their first child early in March.

  This was a suitable explanation and the tenants were unhappy but understanding,this was until one of them found an advert on the internet, advertising the suites at an astonishing $34,000 for February and March, the time when the Winter Olympics would be held at Vancouver.

  “It’s a really, really, really horrible, vulnerable awful feeling to lose your home,” said Brown Monday.

  The tenants were even more upset from this as they felt Mariana had lied to them, they thought at the worst she would put the suites back up for rental after their family had left for the $580 a month. The advert, however, made them think that really she wanted to extort the public coming to Vancouver for the Olympics and at their expense as they have to find somewhere to live at a time when everyone is putting their prices up. For students with little income and exams this was incredibly stressful.

  When approached about the online advert, Mariana claimed she put the ad up over a year ago, just to see if any one would contact her. We have to believe Mariana’s intentions, although she has admitted if someone contacts her about the suits at that price she may have room, depending on how many of her family arrive.

• The Rent A Room Scheme

  Retweet Monday, 7th December 2009

  Renting a room has always had benefits but now people who rent rooms out can get an added bonus of being tax exempt up to a certain amount.

  The Rent a Room scheme allows people who take in a lodger to get up to 4,250 in rent without having to pay tax. The new scheme means landlords and tenants can take in a tax-free ‘gross’ income (before expenses) from renting their furnished accommodation.

  In a time when everyone seems to be paying taxes for everything, it is a nice change to see the Inland Revenue giving something back. Many people have had to take lodgers in flat shares and house shares to help pay the bills and mortgages so being exempt from a lot of this income will be a nice relief.

  Anyone can opt into the Rent a Room scheme, even if you don’t own your own home (although I would recommend getting your landlords permission), as long as the accommodation you are letting is your main living area for most of the time. It can’t be a holiday home or a buy to let property, and your lodger must be paying you to live there.

  As usual though, there are some exclusions, the Rent A Room totals 4,250 a year for a homeowner, this total is the same for joint home owners meaning individually the relief is half at 2,125. It also only applies to furnished accommodation’s, and if the rent you receive goes above the 4,250 then you still have to pay tax above this threshold.

  The Rent a Room scheme only applies when a lodger occupies a room or floor of your house, but not if you have converted your house into separate flats. If this is the case you will have to declare any income from renting these rooms tothe HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and pay tax in the normal way.

• Flatshare Fridge of the Future

  Retweet Tuesday, 1st December 2009

  I could of done with this when I was Flatsharing, This could be the new future Flatshare Fridge that might finally stop thoughs arguments of who’s ate my food or why do I have to clean up their mess by allowing each person in your household to have their own personal refrigerator space consisting of a base station and up to 4 stackable sections.

  Each compartment has a tall section for bottles as well as sections for vegetables and even frozen foods and these sections can be further customized with various colourful skins and add-ons like a Whiteboard or bottle openers

  The Flatshare Fridge was the winner of the 2008 Electrolux Design Lab Competition and was created by Stefan Buchberger from the University of Applied Arts in Vienna scoping a prize of 5000 and a six-month internship at one of Electrolux global design centres.

• Flatmate Hair Dryer Prank

  Retweet Thursday, 26th November 2009

  To bring a bit of humour to this blog we thought we’d find some of the best Flatshare related funny videos, stories and jokes and bring them to you everyweek

  This week we came across The Flatmate Hair Dryer Prank which is topping over 700k Hits on You Tube……. Enjoy!

• Blog

  Retweet Tuesday, 30th November 1999

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