After 18 months of living in a 1-bedroom flat in Muswell Hill, North London, this weekend I am moving to a 3-bedroomed house in Hornchurch, Essex. I’m going to lodge with Aprile Harman initially for 6 months. It’s going to have huge financial rewards for me because I’m getting a pay rise at work, and I will have a cheaper rent which includes bills apart from council tax. This is making it possible for me to buy a house in South Wales in Rachel and take on the extra responsibility of a mortgage, so I’d like to say a big thank you to Aprile!

Why did I decide to leave the flat in Muswell Hill? Well, it’s not only for fiscal reasons; my landlady informed me before Christmas that she wanted to give up her flat for a larger flat, and would inform me with 6-8 weeks notice to vacate the premises. I wasn’t having any of that, because I don’t like uncertainty, so I found somewhere else and instead of waiting for her to tell me to bugger off, I’ve told her to stick it where the sun don’t shine! ;o) Ok, I didn’t actually say that to her, but the sentiment was there.

The advantage of living in Hornchurch means that I’m in RAD country. It’s half an hour on the bus to Romford which will be handy as much of my colleagues’ social lives are based in Romford, and also my good friends Andy and Sumita live about half an hour away by car. So that’ll be nice.

Aprile doesn’t know yet, but I’m planning a little housewarming gathering in the next few weeks!