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How do I rent as someone on the spectrum?

NAS84048

Aged 28, primarily attained middling GCSE and A level grades whilst at school, was severely bullied there and physically, verbally and emotionally abused in the home.

I have spent much of my twenties accruing as much knowledge as possible due to my inability to accept t hat my grades could have been much better, as the bullying effectively destroyed my love of learning whilst at home.

Having never really lived away from home, and given how toxic my parents are, it has resulted in chronically low self-esteem and led to me having lived an incredibly stunted life (I have moderate professional success but I needed a home and school environment in which I could have been allowed to thrive both academically and in terms of my extracurriculars - it did not help for my self esteem that I had speech and language issues, which resulted in bullying both in the home and at school).

I realise that, for the sake of my mental health, I need to be away from my parents, even if I could have saved on a deposit for a house by staying with my parents in London (it has gotten to the point where I have developed a strong visceral hatred for both of them).

With that in mind, are there any useful step by step guides for renting in the UK if you're on the spectrum? I am self studying for some A levels as a private candidate at the moment, and so I can't really concentrate on multiple things at once. I have also been let down far too many times by those I thought I could trust to have the spoons to undertake the research.

Thanks in advance.

  • in reply to NAS84048

    Hi- that sounds great! I hope you can get one of the flats! 

  • Get your name put down on a housing association so that you will have more security. A small place is better as it will cost less to heat. 

  • in reply to Ann :)

    Hi Ann

    So there's a supported living development consisting of 16 purpose built apartments in the town where I work that are single occupancy.

    It doesn't have a stellar CQC rating based on their last inspection, but I have made an enquiry with them and with a few other nearby similar scheme providers (all of which have significantly higher CQC ratings).

    I don't have light or sound sensitivity problems.

    Will try looking at Rightmove and Zoopla, thanks.

  • Hi :) Not sure I have any direct practical advice on renting but I know that I personally would avoid flat sharing. I've done that several times and it wasn't good for me (plus I had some bad experiences). I only realised how much of a stress it had been when I finally had my one room flat of my own- like a huge burden had been lifted. I need my space.

    I'm quite new to renting in the UK but this is what I have learnt so far: Definitely do an in person visit before renting. Check what utility bills are included if any (eg. water, electricity, heating) and about the council tax. What type of heating is it? Then you can estimate the cost of the utilities. It's probably also a good idea to enquire about wifi (eg. if there is any included or anything set up already, what the previous provider was etc- this is more of an issue if you are renting short term as when you need to get your own wifi contract it usually is for at least 1 year). 

    For me the location of my accommodation is also very important (in part as I have some joint issues so can't walk too far). I guess if you are sensitive to sounds/lights that might also be a consideration. 

    I don't know if this is the case in all areas but where I live now, I actually had to write to lots and lots of advertised places and only got very few replies- so I ended up just going through rightmove.co.uk and zoopla etc. and just wrote to anything that fitted my criteria (I had a few criteria about location, price etc) as I realised I would probably not hear back from most places anyways (or they would already be taken by someone else). You can actually set a search alert on rightmove or zoopla so you get an email when a new property is added matching your criteria. 

    Hope this helps. I wish you good luck ! It will be so nice to have your own place :) 

  • Hi there 8408, welcome to the forum.

    My advice is to take your time, look into the details.. rent..rates..tenancy agreement etc,  Always get a written contract,  and read the small print.

    Also, think about how you're going to break this to your parents, if they don't already know it may come as a bit of a shock to them.

    It's going to be a big change and I wish you well with it, but I must warn you that moving will use up a heck of a lot of spoons.  (Anyone unfamiliar with spoon theory could be a little bewildered by that comment ! )

    Take your time.

    Ben

  • By the way if you’re willing and able to move out of the london area there are some cities in the uk where rent is a lot lot lower.

  • Do as much as possible online or on paper. First work out what you can afford to pay in rent. Do a budget. Take into account energy and water bills, council tax etc. now you have a budget look about using websites like zoopla and right move. Make a short list of potential flats for rent. Then contact the agent and ask for viewings.