Dear Oxonians, I would be glad to receive comments about the 'get a room' question, as follows:
I might move to Oxford and accommodation seems... not cheap.
I like flatshare, but hope at least that ~450 pounds (incl.bills) would buy a good one: good quality housing, not too cramped, in a student/young professional neighbourhood within biking distance (ca. 1.5 miles) from the Headington campus and, ideally, also from the center. Hope to find a place with a few cafés around to invite a lady for the cheapest mineral water (a salary of 1570 gbp seems not astronomical for oxford prices)
Hence my cunning plan:
For minimising long term living costs it seems to be an idea to open a flatshare myself, i.e. rent a 2- (or even 3 ?) bedroom-flat/house unfurnished, long-term, get my old ikea-style furniture from Berlin (might work for a few 100 pounds paid by employer), and let the furnished room(s) to some nice guys - demand seems to be there, and if we don't get along, its not me who would move (had that once, indeed). Edit: All assumed the landlord agreed to it - no I don't want to do it behind their backs, but I am the liable one, so what's the risk?
This is based on the assumption that there is a marked difference btwn. prices for furnished and unfurnished rooms - do you think that is true? (I'm not sure even after browsing through classifieds sites).
(In Berlin that scheme got me a nice room for some 350 eurs in hip Prenzlauer Berg, while my 'tenants' were happy to pay a bit more but be less tied down. The 'Landlord' company doesn't mind and charges 10 EURs more per person - obviously, I am liable to all damages.)
- still, I am afraid that total costs per person (rent, tax, electricity, internet...) would be more than GBP 500 per month. What do you think?
Edit:
references- what info do they usually contain? I have been renting the unfurnished flat in Berlin from a large company for 6 years, I might not even have moved out yet by the time I am looking in Oxford...(subletting my room). Was in student accommodation (studentenheim) before 2005.
thanks for your comments!
And: BÚÉK from Budapest - Happy new year :-)
(well, for those living in Hungary, I'd go with 'I wish you a slightly-less-tragic new year!' - if you don't get it, search for hungary in 'the economist':-/