Until 2018 I had never lived in my own place. I was always living under someone's else's roof. Either a partner, or as a lodger or in a house share situation. And it wasn't until 2015, when I relocated to Manchester, that my business had its own separate location. And so moving since then, has been relatively uncomplicated.
But of course, during the 4 years that I had my studio space, things kind of grew, and by the time I had finally moved into my own rented home in 2018, and later that year moved my business into it as my studio building was sold off, I realised that moving was no longer as easy as filling the back of my 3 door hatch back several times over and just going. Now I have stuff (including a 12.5 st cast iron semi-industrial sewing machine), complicated long-term tenancy agreements and less certainty as the cost of living crisis continues to overshadow everything we do.
I always get a bit anxious at this time of year. My rental renewal notice is due about now, and I am always worried how much my landlord will decide to raise the rent. Currently, it's still pretty cheap by UK standards (I pay about half the UK average), and a third less than the average for the area in which I live. But whereas before, if I didn't like the new rental cost I could just go, that decision now comes with all sorts of complications aside from the fact that rent has increased generally much much faster than my paltry income. Complications like:
Not passing credit checks for new rentals because of my self employed status;
Like, the huge amount of stuff I now own (even shedding the unwanted things I can do without);
Like, nowhere else is going to have the cheap rent I have now.
My dream is to put my business into an affordable storage unit or office space, somewhere I can still easily access to sell what I make, and live on the road, or at least, anywhere between my family down South and wherever I choose to locate the physical-ness of my business.
But it's not as simple as that. I do hear the road calling to me. I have wanderlust, always sated because I have found myself constantly moving home, and city, since 2008. But I have been where I am now for a while. It's unusual for me. And I want to go somewhere. Anywhere.
And despite feeling quite grounded by what I have, in fact, I am lucky that I could, if I needed to, pick up my business and move anywhere I wanted if the circumstances were right. Although my design business needs space, all my other income streams could go with me. And I don't need a solid location for my home based business. It works from anywhere. I have no ties to the town in which I live and I have no preference for where I may end up next so long as I can find somewhere affordable to live.
And that is what fuels my desire to go. For the most part I wait for the guiding hand, for whatever will decide my next move - whether it's my profit hungry landlord or an enticing opportunity from afar. I wait to see which one calls first.
As it turns out, it is my landlord which wins the bet this year. And so that means I will be located where I am now, until at least October 2025. But planning takes time, and who knows what next year may bring.
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