Living in a warehouse/industrial unit

I'm sure there must be some people here who do this or have done. I had a little search but couldn't find a thread on it specifically.

As you can probably tell, I know next to nothing about how to go about RBI apart from a quick look on this website - http://www.spacedup.co.uk/whatsavailable.htm

Any advice or horror stories from people about doing this?

Cheers

talk to Rounce

black rainbow projects / scotnotscott / object / braker / sparky / tricitybendix

all used to live in the same one in hackney wick and will have some opinions..... whether they want to share them with you is an entirely different matter !! ;-)

black rainbow projects / scotnotscott / object / braker / sparky / tricitybendix

all used to live in the same one in hackney wick and will have some opinions..... whether they want to share them with you is an entirely different matter !! ;-)

Ha, fair enough.

Any input would be greatly appreciated though.

Did it for 3 years. It's not for everyone.

Pros:

*Shit tonne of space (usually)
*Cheap rent (relatively)
*Good for parties (cleanability)

Cons:

*Fucking cold in winter (depending on what type of building)
*Girls think you're a student (celibate)
*Other people's parties (STFU)

Oh, and my old landlord refused to accept that I was moving out, and wouldn't take my name off the contract, despite countless emails asking for us to renew it with the names of people living there when it expired. He left mine on, still thinks I live there, and calls me every month asking for rent. I've not answered in nearly two years.

On the flip side, he changed the postcode of the building by moving the front door to another road, so the leccy company said we didn't exist and we never paid for electricity. Next door hadn't had a water bill in over 7 years for similar reasons. Probably different in other properties like this, but I felt like I was constantly on the run from utilities bills, which was a shit way to live my life.

I do miss having loads of space though...

If you're looking to share anyway, (ie. you're not using all the space for home/office/studio), you'd probably be better off finding some peeps looking for a new (ware)housemate. The SpacedUp guys (I know them) are making a rather enormous margin, they're essentially letting agents. Unless you can find a place to rent directly from the property owner, the deal likely won't be as sweet as one might imagine. I can ask some peeps round my way (Manor House/Overbury) if they know of any places going, though they'll almost 100% be shared.

If anyone knows about a studio / converted warehouse, but without any shared amenities (must be self-contained) let me know.

EEI, how much have you got to spend. I know a dude, who's agency lets quite a few hidden gems around central London, they're just a bit 'spensive due to enormity.

If you're looking to share anyway, (ie. you're not using all the space for home/office/studio), you'd probably be better off finding some peeps looking for a new (ware)housemate. The SpacedUp guys (I know them) are making a rather enormous margin, they're essentially letting agents. Unless you can find a place to rent directly from the property owner, the deal likely won't be as sweet as one might imagine. I can ask some peeps round my way (Manor House/Overbury) if they know of any places going, though they'll almost 100% be shared.

Yes I thought that, or try and persuade some friends to do it with me. Do you mind of I ask the kind of ballpark figure rent your friends and laying, and for what type of space?

EEI, how much have you got to spend. I know a dude, who's agency lets quite a few hidden gems around central London, they're just a bit 'spensive due to enormity.

Nothing expensive.
Or around £200-300pw if it can be let under a council's deposit help scheme (ie. has to be done through an agent, needs to be self-contained and the agent has to accept BACS payments).

sorry for hijacking

Yes I thought that, or try and persuade some friends to do it with me. Do you mind of I ask the kind of ballpark figure rent your friends and laying, and for what type of space?

You'd be better off to cool down a bit and get to know people from the forum... It will pay off.

TooTallTim has it about right with the pros and cons. Although the notion that it's cheap seems fairly redundant at this stage....we started renting our warehouse around 4yrs ago and the folks that moved in next door last week are paying twice what we do!

I lived in Hackney Wick in a space that initially came trough SpacedUp (AFAIK). 'Lounge' had about 8 meters ceiling height.

Bit of a wow factor that you can show off to your flat dwelling friends and colleagues when you have parties etc, but that wears off.

Biggest problem for me was the wafer thin walls between the different rooms in the space. Usually only got 5 hours of sleep every night. All of the warehouse conversions in Hackney wick seem to have these walls.