Moving House

So here I am, almost set up in my new flat.

It's been quite a stressful time for the last few months, since I got my notice to quit the house I've lived in for the last twenty years.

Basically, my landlord wanted to retire from being a landlord, so served me and my neighbour with a no fault eviction notice.  We were the last tenants he had left, and she'd been there seventeen years.

Over the months that followed I discovered that the government had intended to make no fault evictions illegal three years ago, but somehow never got round to it.

So, the first thing we did was inform the Council, as there was a real risk of homelessness in both our cases.  The lovely lady in the Powys Housing Department was as helpful as it was possible to be, but she did warn me that there was a possibility that they would only be able to offer me B&B accommodation, which would fulfil their responsibility to rehouse me.  I would have to store my belongings (at some expense!) or get rid of them.

It is incredibly difficult to find a place to live in Hay, and I needed to be in Hay, or close by, in order to get to work.  One of the problems is that properties that used to be available for long term tenants are now holiday lets or AirB&B.

 It wasn't really feasible to look far outside Hay, either.  The buses just don't work for a 9am to 6pm job, and 10am to 5.30pm on Sundays, so I had to be within walking or cycling distance.  I have never learned to drive. 

That's why I did the test ride of the ebike back in March.  A flat came up in Talgarth and I wanted to see if it would be possible to commute that far.  It was great fun for a day out, but I wouldn't have liked to do it as a regular thing - and the flat was only on the market for about three days anyway.  It came up on Rightmove on the Friday or Saturday, the estate agent had a viewing day on the Monday, and it was taken straight away.

Meanwhile in Hay, for the first four months that I was looking, only four studio flats came up.  If I'd gone for one of those I would have had to get rid of most of my belongings, just to fit in.  As it was, I had to dispose of my pine dresser and settle.  The dresser went free to a lady who had just passed her social services degree - she wanted to store her course books in it.  The settle went to a barn conversion where I hope it will be very happy.  

A couple of larger houses also came up, but they were out of my price range.

Several people said that they didn't want to see me move away from Hay (I didn't want to move away, either), and a couple of people (including my sister) looked into the possibility of buying the house with me as the sitting tenant.  In the end they couldn't manage to do that.

Then I was approached by two people who owned flats in Hay, and I was able to view them both on the same day!

Mark and Sandra Havard have flats over Londis, and they showed me the attic flat, which was not on the open market yet.  It is absolutely delightful.  The building dates back to around 1670, so it's all stone walls and beams and, being a converted attic, lots of sloping walls and skylights.  The bedroom is downstairs by the front door, which is at the back of Londis, approached via a passageway and metal staircase, completely hidden away.  There's a wonderful view from the living room over the roof tops up the Wye Valley.

The other flat was in Y Gelli Chambers, over the Old Electric Shop.  Again it was an attic flat (I began to feel a bit like Sara Crewe in A Little Princess!) but with more space to fit my furniture in, and all on one level when I'd climbed up all the stairs!  So I went for Y Gelli Chambers.

It's a lovely flat, with a view down Broad Street and, at a certain angle, out to Mouse Castle over the rooftops, and I've managed to keep all my books and DVDs and craft supplies, though it's been a bit of a game to fit them all in.  

I did think of getting friends to help me move - several people kindly offered - but in the end I decided to get the professionals in.  Three young men from ATK did all the hard work, and dismantled and rebuilt my bed, and they were worth every penny!