It’s the Wohnungsnotstand, stupid

This is the odyssey about how we ended up paying quadruple rent.

First of all, we couldn’t get rid of our flat in Berlin. 

We decided to move to Britain. As I got a job that started in the beginning of June, we had to cancel the rental contract. There’s a three-month cancellation period before we could get out of it. But we had to move in two months, that’s why we had to search for someone new ourselves who would be ok with paying 30% higher rent (Wohnungsnotstand*, stupid!), take our white goods and move in in June.

BUT THIS DID NOT HAPPEN.

Despite the Wohnungsnotstand (stupid!), people changed their minds when they received the contract. This happened three fucking times. The first couple wrote an email that something life-changing happened and they are not able to take the flat. Fair enough, bad luck, shit happens, we’ll find someone else. There were enough people who applied anyway, we thought.

The second one did the same. My patience began to disappear. We scheduled new viewings. Another viewing, another exhibition of my life. While finishing my dissertation – yes this was happening as well, why make a move out of the country relaxed – I watched all the fancy hipster fashion victims walking through my bathroom, asking me the same questions. At least I didn’t have to browse through Asos anymore to see “what’s hot this summer”. Seen it all, hated everything. Please don’t bring the 90s back, please.

The third couple did the same as the two predecessors. I think it’s a thing now. All I wanted was to have time to say goodbye to my beloved Franzbrötchen. But I didn’t have the time for that because I was about to freak out.

This was rent number one. Number two is the rent of the storage place where our furniture and boxes were stored for a month until we found something long-term to live.

Number three was our short-time rent in Brighton, while we were searching for something for the beginning of July. And hurray – number four is our flat in which we are living now, because the contract started in June. Our contract goes for a year, after that we can extend monthly. People expect you to buy your first (yes, you have to step up the housing ladder) house fairly soon. That’s the economy, stupid!

But hey, I’m living in London-by-the-sea! Quirky, trendy, cosmopolitan. Live fast, die young. I’m living my life in overdrive, I mean overdraft.

So… how was your June 2014?

*housing shortage