Chapter 108 107. Considerations for renting a house
The process of finding a house was not smooth.
Because Lin An’s estimate was wrong——
Rent in London is really too expensive.
Even for an ordinary apartment located some distance away from the central city, where public security is a concern and there are a large number of people mixed together, the monthly rent is close to 300 pounds.
How much is 300 pounds?
Let’s put it this way, one pound can buy about 60 kilograms of potatoes, or 30 kilograms of flour.
It is precisely because of this terrifying purchasing power that Lin An feels that writing for magazines and tabloids is really a high salary!
It can be seen that knowledge is money!
It can also be seen that no matter what era, country or time and space...city CBD is expensive.
Not to mention Westminster, which has relatively better security, one bedroom and one living room costs 1,000 pounds. Lin An was heartbroken.
She can certainly afford this money - after all, there are still six or seven months until the summer vacation, so she should be able to earn it.
However, after living in Slytherin's dormitory, it is really difficult to go from luxury to frugality——
She couldn't stand the £300 price tag for a London city flat.
The old and dirty walls, the rusty and yellow faucets, the colorful paint splatters in the room... and all kinds of strange stains.
She stayed in this hotel during Christmas to save money. She had realized that her magic power was not enough to comfortably transform the room into a comfortable one every day.
Including soundproofing, cleaning, air conditioning and heating.
That kind of corridor, with thirty or fifty rooms on both sides, drug addicts on the left, people playing rock and roll late at night on the right... It's all very common.
She can't stand the vicissitudes of her middle-aged and elderly life!
Westminster has high-quality single apartments with a rent of 1,000 pounds. Most of them are single apartments with better privacy and safer conditions. However, Lin An cannot guarantee whether he will make a big fuss when practicing magic.
.
Therefore, I prefer to live in a single-family house - at least I don't have to worry about affecting other people.
After a day's delay, she called in foreign aid Hank.
Lin An sighed and had to turn his attention to a suburban residence like Hank's.
But Hank had a different opinion: "If you can earn more royalties, I mean, if. Try not to live in the country - you know, Lin an, although you are not qualified to be a superstar now
, but it’s pretty enough.”
It is really not safe for a single, young, beautiful girl with even harmless oriental qualities to live in a remote place.
"In addition, the delivery time here is 2 to 3 days slower than in the city, and there is no pizza or burger that can be delivered at any time with just a phone call."
"Finally, since you are only renting for a short period of time during the summer vacation, I guess this kind of entire building is generally not rented for such a short period of time."
Compared to Lin An, Hank is a down-to-earth local investigator.
All right.
The last reason convinced Lin An.
She sighed sadly.
But Hank couldn't help but suggest: "Are you really not considering living at my house? For only 100 pounds, I can share a room with you. And I will convince my mother to prepare three meals for you!"
If Lin An were an ordinary girl, she would be moved by this proposal.
But... for the same reason, who knows what kind of magical movements she will create?
So I could only reluctantly refuse.
But there really is no place more cost-effective.
Hank couldn't figure out why she had to live alone, so he racked his brains: "If you don't mind the external environment and don't want to compromise on the apartment size, there are places in lower-class areas... but it's not impossible to consider."
The current distribution of housing in England is interesting.
There are some medium-sized residential areas with obviously good public security and well-maintained environment, such as Little Whinging, where Harry lives.
There are also lower-class areas surrounded by smelly ditches, garbage, and industrial pollution.
Houses in lower-class areas are not necessarily worse, but the public security and external environment...
It's really hard to bear to look at.
Can be law and order...
For Lin An, it needs to be considered, but it is not the first consideration.
She thought for a while: "If I want to live in a medium-sized community like this, how much will the rent be?"
That place is not within the range of Hank's delivery. He specifically called a friend to find out: "Because it is only an hour's drive from London, and the area is larger, the smallest single-family house costs 800 pounds a month, but the shortest The minimum rent is three months.”
Lin An couldn't afford this money.
She believed that she would be able to save such a sum of money during the summer vacation, but accommodation was one thing. She couldn't spend the entire budget on it, right?
After thinking for a while, she reluctantly asked: "Where is the lower class area?"
"Inferior district..." Hank hurriedly checked the map: "There are many choices, but the one closest to the record store you mentioned (actually Lin An was talking about the Leaky Cauldron Bar next to it)... that is, right next to it There’s another town in Little Whinging called Cockerworth.”
"The rent here is very cheap, as low as 15 pounds, but I don't recommend it-"
He huffed and rummaged through the notes he had collected in advance, and now accurately drew a circle on the map:
"How about checking out this place? It's halfway between Little Whinging and Cokeworth. Because of the high turnover of people, there are a lot of short-term rentals. The security is... pretty good. A single house only costs about 300 pounds."
The only drawback is that there is a big chimney and a smelly ditch.
Lin An breathed a sigh of relief.
How can I put it? The whole of London is not much better! The sky is gloomy all day long, and seeing the sun is like seeing your own mother.
What's more, these are great times, and if you want to take a stroll, you have to go to the magical world!
She breathed a sigh of relief, pulled up the map again, and looked at the places circled by Hank——
“It would be nice to be closer to Little Whinging, I have a friend who lives there.”
Because of the "magic of love", Harry couldn't leave his aunt's house for a long time, but... it shouldn't be a problem to come and play all day during the day.
not to mention……
It was closer to a medium-sized community like Little Whinging. If... Lin An was saying that if Draco was willing to come over, he might not be too worried about her situation?
Hank nodded and began to lie down on the map again——
"If it's close to Little Whinging... here! Spider Lane in Cokeworth, I'm sorry I haven't been there, but I asked - the end of the lane connects to Little Whinging - ah, I remembered! I conveyed it Their complaint letter! It is said that it is related to the lower class area, and everyone is very reluctant."
Lin An also breathed a sigh of relief: "Then let's stay here for the time being! Do you have time? Go take a look now?"
It's still the Christmas holiday, and Hank, the single man, naturally has no shirk in his duty for a trusting and touching pound (crossed out) friendship.
only……
Lin An thought for a while in confusion - Spider Alley...sounds a bit familiar!
Cockerworth is a fictional industrial center in Dickens's novel "Hard Times". Rowling followed his name and setting and set up Spider End Alley here. Snape often traveled here during his childhood to meet Harry.
