Can you ever feel settled in a small rental?

[hengee]

We moved to London four years ago straight out of uni. First time living in a big city. We live 30 mins walk to Oxford Circus so super central. It’s a tiny one bed flat but it’s cheap and so central.

But we don’t feel “settled” here. We can’t tell if it’e because of the flat size, because we rent, or both.

It’s a lovely flat and we’re on a longer lease. But something feels missing?

Of course you can, lots of people rent all their lives

For me personally, I have never felt settled in a rental and I’ve rented lots of places.

My first home that was solely mine was tiny - you couldn’t swing a kitten in it. I loved it. I dreamed about it when I eventually moved into a bigger place.

I’m not sure if I’d settle into a small space again though. Was your accommodation while you were at university bigger than this place?

or Maybe it’s the bustle of the area you live in that you find unsettling. City life is great for a busy life but if you’re used to going to a quieter area to relax then maybe it’s the location that is unsettling.

For me settling somewhere is about happy memories. Do you spend much time there or is it just somewhere you sleep/store clothese? If it's small and you spend all your time away from there, I imagine it won't ever feel like home.

I never feel "settled" in a rental. We fell off the property ladder a few years back and had to rent, the situation with covid meant we were stuck renting for almost 2 years instead of the 3 months we were expecting (our house was sold), and the whole time, we couldn't relax properly or make big plans because we were expecting to move any minute. I have trauma when it comes to unstable housing though from my childhood so that probably affects my outlook.

Size hasn't been an issue for us as we can adapt to space easily but not feeling settled in a rental is normal. Being at the mercy of the landlord of whenever they want to sell up, ask you to leave or just not complete nessaccery repairs. Its hard to put down roots when you can't paint the walls, landscape the garden, change bathroom tiles or light fittings. Investing in decent furniture or built in storage solutions is futile because you don't know if or when you might have to move at short notice and it might not fit at the new place. Everything is just cheap, temporary because it costs a lot of money to move from one 'landlord special' property to another.