Which apartment would you choose? Do you think either are an ok deal?

[AbsentmindedWoman]

Option A: Up a billion stairs (ok, 4 or 5 short steep flights) to attic studio overlooking Finchley Road. Recently refurbed and clean and pleasant, and okayish size. 0.6 miles to tube. £930 including all utilities, but not council tax or wifi.

Option B: Ground floor at front of house, onto West End Lane in West Hampstead - bigger room, also recently refurbed, nice and clean. 0.2 miles to tube. £1018 including bills apart from electric, council tax and wifi.

Both have those stupid mini oven type things with two rings on top.

Both are nice studios though. Clean and well maintained. The ground floor makes me a little uneasy. Equally, being in the attic feels a bit weird too when there's no fire escape.

Should I keep looking and hoping something better comes along?
What's the rental market like right now? Wwyd?

Do you have children? If so, ground floor is easier. I prefer W.Hampstead to Finchely Road too as there are more travel routes.

No, sorry should have said, it's just for me! I was wondering that though - so many of these studios are advertised as suitable for couples, it's insane there would be no way two people could live comfortably in studios of the size I'm seeing. It would be so cramped.

Yes West Hampstead is definitely very good for travel, that's for sure!

For an extra £100 in my pocket (actually more inc the utilities) I’d go for the cheaper one. I’m assuming you’re a child free professional and in it for the London life and ease of travel.

The stairs and extra walk to the station will keep you skinny, and the extra money will keep you drunk. Win/win 😂 Honestly, at this point in your life space and traffic noise are irrelevant.

I'd be tempted by the ground floor one. But who is above you?...
Finchley rd is so busy / polluted....!
W Hampsted one Closer to tube is a bonus. You'll be thankful for that after a rough day/ big night out. Not only your removal but everything will have to be lugged up 5 flights of stairs. Lack of fire escape= yikes!
Is W Hampstead the only area you are considering?

I would save myself £80

I haven't lived in London for a few years so I forgot how crazy the prices are.

You could rent a 2 or 3 bed house where we live for less than those prices!

Have you thought about this kind of arrangement OP ?
www.shareandcare.co.uk

West Hampstead much better than Finchley Road, loads of bars and restaurants, and also has access to more transport links, lived there for about 8 years in my twenties and loved it!

Will you ever be able to open your window if you lived in the ground floor one?

As a central Londoner I'm wary of ground floor flats.

I hope you find one you like.

Yes - I'm wary of ground floor too. After 4 years on the first floor and it never crossing my mind to worry, I'm now on the ground floor at the moment and I get a bit uneasy. I'm in a naice part of WHampstead (Greek roads) area and two houses have been broken into in the last few weeks locally.

I love the proximity of the West End Lane one to the tube though!

I'm looking all over Camden really, with preference for NW6 or NW3. Been living in this area for years.

No I would not do share & care, I'm massively introverted and want my own space, however miniscule it may be. When I get home in the evenings I just want to veg out, not feel like I have to make conversation.

If I can't see anything I feel sure about soon, then I will look further.

Guess I've answered my own question, I don't feel sure about either of the two from today. Saw 5 in total. The rest weren't contenders, all in nice shape (amazingly!) but ages from transport or very tiny indeed.

Definitely not the ground floor. There is a high risk of mould and slugs. But also check the insulation in the attic flat, might get very hot in summer and cold in winter. (Still better than a ground floor).

Slugs Ew. No!

My last place, the girl who moved in before me was fairly traumatised by the battle she'd had to get rid of the slugs in the kitchen. She did a good job though as I never saw any! But the house was really, really damp which was extremely unpleasant.

The rental market would make you weary. Until you've had the experience of something like damp, you don't really think about it. I couldn't believe how mould sprang up on things touching the floor in my old place.

Absentminded, when we just moved to London we rented a beautifully refurbished ground floor flat. After a year or so we started to notice slugs in our washing basket and then on our curtains! When we finally moved to our own place I had to throw away most of our stuff including my bags and shoes (sob) because it was all covered in black hairy mould. Never again!

Well, bracing myself to go out for another round of viewings later today.

Honestly, I don't know how some of these agents can call themselves professional. I've just had someone try to change our appointment time for the third time. Then won't pick up the phone when I try to call, as I'm fucking irritated by the volley of text messages.

Why can't we do it over email or on the phone? Why do so many of them rely on text or Whatsapp? I hate that mode of comms for anything other than personal stuff.

Yesterday, I went into a bunch more high street agents. Already registered with a few.