Chance of a lifetime or too good to be true? Notting Hill, London flat.

[Springingintolife]

Sorry, long one, but trying not to drip-feed.

I'm on homeswapper and have been a while as I feel very cut off where I live due to not driving, having an illness (fibromyalgia and hypermobility) and not being close to the bus stops to just nip about and do things with my nearly 5 year old daughter.

What I have is a 2 bed semi with front and back garden and a drive in a semi rural area on the outskirts of a large town in the south east. Ten minutes drive from the beach and can get into London within an hour. I feel you have to have quite a bit of money here to have a good quality of life with a child, as everything has entry fees and needs driving to, or takes quite a while on public transport.

That's the reason I've been on homeswapper. I have looked at some places and talked to people about swaps before but they haven't worked out for various reasons. I've never pulled out on anyone- apart from one flat which was splashed on the front page of a local paper for having serious mould issues, just after the swap was approved.

Someone has contacted me with a one bedroom ground floor flat in a very very posh road next to Notting Hill, with a private garden, and I'm having a think about whether this would be the change I would need. The reason they want to move is they don't have RTB and they want to buy somewhere. (Let's leave the RTB debate out of this conversation please!). I have RTB but as I'm not able to work full time at the moment, it wouldn't be something I could make the most of.

Positives about the swap- I grew up on the other side of London so it's familiar. Has a garden still. Smaller flat so less cleaning and maintenance. They seem to think the tenancy gives the right to do work to the flat and thinks the living room could be converted to two bedrooms, so potential future bedroom issues may not be an issue. Free public transport for children. Free museums so things to do at the weekend. Lovely parks with paddling pools in London. My brother lives on the other side of London and is expecting a child with his DP so closer to a cousin for my DD and could afford to visit regularly. Get to be in an affluent area so if I wanted to do some part time work like tutoring or cleaning, I could charge a decent amount. Might meet rich handsome man. Can access universities if I decide to go back to studying one day. More going on. More inspiring area to keep me motivated and improve mental/physical health on nice walks. Always somewhere new to see. DD is mixed race so would be in a more diverse area.

Negatives- losing the RTB but potentially could swap again when DD is a teenager. Losing a bedroom and would need to do work in the future to create an extra space and can't guarantee I would be earning enough to fund it. Flat doesn't have double glazing so might be colder in the winter and cost more to heat. Although I looked online and has same energy rating as mine. Potentially smaller space to heat. Person said they would take everything with them including the oak flooring, so I'd have to move in with potentially a concrete floor and put carpet onto a credit card, although cost of this would be offset by not having to buy a car and learn to drive more imminently. Housing association don't have great reviews online for repairs, but looks like person has spent a lot of money installing new things into the property. (Apart from the oak floor, which they say they're taking). Possibly having noisy neighbours above us. Although I already have a shouty next door neighbour anyway. We lose the beach, but it's cold most of the year anyway. We lose the countryside, but I don't manage to get out and about in it enough anyway.

However, I don't know about the area these days, as I left London years ago and I hear it's changed a lot, so I wanted some honest mumsnet experience.

Oh wow that's such an amazing idea

OP - would the tenancy be passed to your DD at some point if you ended up staying there long term?

It's kinda in between Notting Hill and Maida Vale. Sounds like Bayswater or Paddington?

I'm not sure but my current tenancy wouldn't. I think I can put her in as joint tenant when she's 18 though.

I have had another look and it's under North Kensington.

Sounds like you’re pretty clued up then 😊. Only you can make a decision on what is best for your family. Having moved far out of London when I was small my parents moved back within close proximity as we got older so we could have more opportunities. It benefitted my sisters and I massively… I was much more independent than my country friends from a younger age and it gave me the option to get a starter job in London without worrying about rent as I could stay at home for the first few years. I wouldn’t want to make the presumption that I am “happier” than them, but I would have felt suffocated in a small town environment. I now work in the City and earn enough to live happily in a sought after area, that wouldn’t have happened if we hadn’t move back within arms reach of London. I still like to pause, look out at the Thames and take a moment to be grateful when I walk over London Bridge some mornings.
Whatever you choose to do… good luck!

I know loads of Pele in council housing and honestly, if the living room is huge enough to partition a room off with a REMOVABLE studwall then go for it. I'd even go for it just having a sofa bed in the living room.

I did a HA swap from a village in the SE to Zone 2 in London, with DC. Best thing I ever did. (mine was also as the swap partner wanted RTB).

Like you, I didn't drive so we hardly ever did anything at the old place, not without a lot of travel on unreliable and expensive public transport. Mine were teens when we moved and they loved zipping around on the tube, doing various activities and going to gigs etc as they got older. They've both said multiple times that they're so thankful we moved, even if it was a bit daunting for them at the time!

You have options re the bedroom situation. A divider or invest in a good quality sofa bed. If the HA you'd be swapping to begin with C, trust me they won't care what you do to the place! They didn't even do an inspection for my swap, so they would have no clue what it was like when I moved in! Mine also has single glazing but it's not cold. I don't spend much more on heating. But you can buy window film or have thick curtains if it's an issue.

As a pp said. London is expensive for property and child care, but that won't be an issue for you. Public transport is cheaper. Generic supermarkets, say Tesco's for example, are no more expensive in London than outside it. There's plenty of Aldi, Lidl, pound stores etc around. There's no reason why your life would be more expensive. Mine wasn't. In fact the move made it cheaper for me as I'd secured a job in London, which was partly why I wanted to move. And yes, the employment opportunities here are a lot better.

When you go to view, have a good walk around the area and get a feel for it. If you don't feel 100% enthustiastic about the flat or the area, don't take it. Wait for something else. But if it's all good then I would go ahead.

@CuriousMoe and @EmpressSoleil thank you! It's good to hear some perspective from people who have experienced similar.

My only real worry is that the woman might not be as genuine about swapping, as she was quite eccentric and swerving some of my questions and going on about taking flowers and flooring with her, and interrupting me when I was answering some of her questions about my place, so I'm worried she's leaving me up the (albeit pretty) garden path.

@NeatCompactSleeper

Plus the carnival brought nothing but misery to them and their neighbours, and they'd have to board up their flats and move out for a few days, especially when my nephew was born.

Oh God yes! I always seem to have to work during Carnival and I hate it!!

OP, did you hear anything else from the house swap woman?

Hiya, sorry just seen this.

Yes I viewed yesterday and it was beautiful. She's really lovely too. I took my brother and they ended up playing guitar and singing together whilst I wandered around.😂

We spoke about the floor and she said she would put a different cheaper floor in before she leaves. She was saying she wanted to take the oak floor as it £75 a square metre at the time of buying. She said she wants to have a good relationship with someone she swaps with, so they can forward on any mail which would show up, so I think she would be true to her word.

The street is incredible. Some famous people own some of the neighbours' houses, but I can't say without being outing! Not many of the buildings are flats, which I was surprised at.

She has a shed style cabin in the garden which she has made into a second bedroom for guests and she uses as a study. She's taking that with her, but the possibility of putting a cabin out there is there, as she says the ground has the foundations for it there. It just has to be under a certain height because of planning permission. So I could make a second daytime bedroom for myself, and then sleep on a sofa bed at night, so I'm not away from my daughter.

The kitchen is tiny, I don't know if that would be an issue- I'd have to get rid of tumble dryer and hang clothes up outside, or use a launderette I guess.

There's an amazing park a few streets away with sandpit and play water fountains. We don't even have a paddling pool anywhere in my county- and the sea is full of poo!

The only downside is you can see Grenfell when you walk to the tube, and it literally broke my heart. I'm quite sensitive and don't know if I could think about it every day.

The place sounds nice OP. As awful as it sounds, you would probably just get used to Grenfell being there in time.

The cabin would be really good. Somewhere to call your own. Re the kitchen, if the living room is large it should be ok.

For clothes drying you could get a heated airer. Or something I do is I have one of those rails that clips over a door. I then put my wet clothes on hangers and hang them on the rail. When the weathers nice I clip it on the outside of the back door. Takes up less space.

I can see Grenfell from my window and witnessed the fire. It haunted me for a long time. Callous as it sounds you get used to it being there. It won’t be there for ever. I am more concerned that those responsible are punished in some way, but I am not holding my breath.

Sounds lovely OP, I'd do it in a heartbeat from what you've said.

As for the rich/poor divide .... most of London is like that.