Home Ownership in London

Today’s the 1-year anniversary of the day I moved into my flat. It’s hard to believe how fast the time has gone since I bought my place, but it’s exciting to be celebrating such a big milestone. Given the occasion, I thought I would dedicate today’s blog post to an entertaining guide to home ownership in London.

There are a lot of things I’ve learned about owning a flat in London in the past year. Some of them have been good, some less so, but they’ve all been enlightening.

If you’re interested in knowing what I’ve gleaned from the experience or just want a glimpse into what home ownership in London is like, read on for my guide.

Owning a Home in London

Here are 13 things I’ve learned about home ownership in London:

1. Half your money will go to things you want to do to your home. The other half will go to things you have to do to your home.

A good friend told me this when I bought my flat, and it’s so true. Painting and decorating are exciting. Repairs less so. But whatever I spend my money on, it all seems to go to my home.

2. When you shop, you’ll notice home goods stores more than any others.

The same friend told me this when I moved in, and it was also true. I started to notice shops I’d passed by a million times but never seen.

Suddenly they were the only places I wanted to go. Which might explain why all my money goes to my flat.

3. You will inherit the previous owner’s plumbing problems.

This is one aspect of home ownership in London I learned on my own. Apparently nobody told the previous owner of my flat you shouldn’t pour things like grease and fat down the kitchen sink.

They got away with it, and I got to deal with it when the sink backed up and started overflowing.

4. Said plumbing problems will inevitably fall over public holidays.

Naturally, the situation above happened over New Year’s. Not only was it difficult to find a plumber, but the one that came had to take my entire kitchen apart to get to the blockage.

He also discovered that the previous owner had done a bad DIY job and that the pipes were flowing uphill. Thankfully he managed to fix it all and we both had a sense of humor about it.

5. Home ownership in London means everyone you know will have an opinion on how you should decorate.

When my flat was a blank canvas, everyone who came to visit had ideas for what I should do to decorate it. Some of the ideas were great. Others required a polite “thanks, I’ll think about it”.

Still, it was fun to get lots of opinions and see my flat through others’ eyes.

I’ve even had a friend helping me through the process. She’s done an amazing job decorating her own flat and she’s had great ideas for mine.

She’s thinking about setting up a business to help people like me, so it’s been great to get her insights.

6. You’ll either be talented at decorating or you won’t.

I got really excited about decorating before I moved into my flat. I spent ages on Pinterest and hours in shops reveling in the idea of home ownership in London and dreaming about putting my stamp on my place.

But after the initial burst, I realized I’m not incredibly talented at interior decor.

I also realized it’s really time consuming. Given I work 7 days a week to run my blog for a living, I don’t have a lot of room to take on a big side project.

As such, a year in, I still have a lampshade, a cushion, and a rug to buy. I’ll get around to it someday, but probably not today. Or tomorrow.

7. If you buy cheap furniture as a placeholder, you’ll never get around to buying nicer stuff.

A friend gave me this advice on home ownership in London when I moved in, and it’s proved accurate.

I mostly bought the stuff I wanted right away, but I did buy a cheap wastebasket I intended to replace quickly. 12 months later, it’s still in my flat. Every time I see it I think of his advice and laugh. And then I do nothing.

8. If you buy nicer stuff, you’ll be too afraid to have parties.

I bought a white rug for my living room knowing it would mean I’d have to be careful about eating and drinking there.

Once it arrived, I got too scared to have people over even though I’m the most likely candidate to spill red wine on it. If I could do it again, I might just go for a burgundy rug and let the red wine do what it wants.

Home ownership in London is a world away from renting, when I tried to be careful but didn’t have any skin in the furniture game.

9. If you get quotes for building work, they’ll be vastly different from one another.

I got a few quotes for double glazing my windows when I moved in. The price discrepancy between them was so vast I wondered if they had all measured the same windows.

It made me so nervous I tabled the project and haven’t gone back to it. I probably should before winter comes.

10. You’ll need an extra bedroom to dry your laundry.

I bought a one-bedroom flat, then realized there was nowhere to dry my laundry (if you’ve read my blog for a while, you’ll know dryers aren’t really a thing in London).

I’ve tried drying it in the living room, but that’s not great when I have people over. There’s little space to do it in the bedroom, and the bathroom and hall are too small.

I talked to a couple friends to see what they do, and we all agreed that in London it’s best to have a spare bedroom just for drying clothes. I’ll keep that in mind if I ever buy a flat in London again.

11. If you’re an expat, you’ll learn a lot of new words. The hard way.

I thought that after over a decade of living in London I knew all the British words for things. Home ownership in London proved me wrong.

To expand on the example above, I spent ages on Google trying to find a simple drying rack for my laundry.

I couldn’t find any search results that were exactly what I was looking for. I was confused since everyone has them and they seem like they should be easy to find.

I finally took a train to a big shop far from where I live, knowing they would probably have one. They did, and I discovered that in the UK they’re called “airers”.

To make matters more ridiculous, the next day I went to the supermarket and found they sell them there, too.

It never occurred to me I could buy one at the grocery store, but I’ve also never had to think about it before. Lesson learned. The hard way.

12. House plants are surprisingly hard to keep alive.

Okay, maybe this one isn’t specifically related to home ownership in London, but it’s still something I’ve learned. I killed an orchid almost immediately after moving in, and I’ve barely managed to keep a succulent alive.

I’m in the process of watching an unidentified plant with purple flowers wilt as I write. No amount of water seems to keep it happy.

I’m actually a little bit afraid it will come after me like the plant in Little Shop of Horrors. Except that it’s dying, so it’s probably not going to. Wait, am I killing it on purpose? Oh goodness.

13. Despite all the ups and downs, home ownership in London feels amazing.

In spite of plumbing problems and hard-to-please plants, I’ve enjoyed owning my flat.

It feels good to pay down a mortgage each month instead of paying rent, and while my interior decorating skills might not be worthy of a design magazine, I’m still happy with how the place looks.