Scared in Dawston :((

Hi everyone.

Sorry to be a drag about this but wife and i just moved to Dawston (Hackney area ) four days ago..scary neighbourhood, we have been witness to a two serious assaults and a robbery . I guess you get what you pay for.. we moved in to a newly re-furbished studio flat for£520 pcm but we didnt realize we were located right behind a homeless park full of drunks and a street that has traffic until 4 am every night. Needless to say, we have yet to sleep through the night since we moved in .

Just need a bit of support i guess, i thought we would enjoy the diversity and spice of life when we first checked out the neighbourhood but the scary reality of living in this area has been some serious culture shock..

I realize we could find a better neighbourhood ( our next neighbourhood will have to be an area where indeginous Brits live ) if we are willing to fork out a bit more so i guess that is what we will have to do.

Does anyone have any experience with this neighbourhood (Dawston) ?

thanks for reading.
Zufan

Hiya.... are you sure you don't mean Dalston?

Hackney/E8 is well known as one of the worst areas of London... however, it is also tipped as one of the next up-and-coming hot-spots!  I doubt that you want to stay there that long, but it's reckoned that in a couple of years the place will be nearly unrecognisable!   

You do, unfortunately, get what you pay for.  Maybe at this stage you didnt have alot of choice, but remember, it's not permanent, and you can move house again, once you've done more research on the area that you want to live in.

I know how you feel... i lived in Stratford (E15) a few years ago when it was rougher than it is now... i have heard that it's changed and become semi-gentrified in spots since we left, but it was a tough few years.  When we first moved in, our neighbours across the road used to shoot at our bedroom windows with pellet guns... for no reason.

Good luck, and stay safe.

Yeah that would be Dalston. Good luck finding an indigenous Brit, you would have to go back to pre Viking times for that!

Hackney is not the best neighbourhood (hence my advice on that other thread about getting a double lock) but if it makes you feel any better we have seen it all just down the road in genteel  (and far too expensive!) Islington too. In the last year have seen numerous fights, there have been at least 2 fatal stabbings within half a mile of our home and a guy tried to hang himself off some scaffolding outside our flat.

Thanks BritWife and Broxi for your insights..

Sorry to rant on...just need to hear wife and i  are not alone in this.

I posted another thread about the obvious fact that wife and i are pretty shell shocked with the overwhelming absence of home grown Brits in many parts of London....
We are very uncomfortable and feel totally out of place in east london . We did sign a six months lease but the agent suggested we could leave in 3 months provided we give him a months notice in advance...we really need advise on what the consequences would be if we broke the lease and left before the 6 months . The leasing agent did photo copy our passports and US bank info but he does not any of our UK bank info since we have yet to set up a cash card account . The deal is we pay him cash at his office every months . What could he do to us if we say that we feel very unsafe in the neighbourhood etc . ?

Are there any non-profit tenant support groups like in the States ?

Our apartment is slanted and looks like it has just gone through an earthquake with major cracks both on the outside and inside . The floors look like you can do downhill skiing on them ....very uneven etc etc .

We just feel utterly lost...wasnt quite what we expected of this place...expensive yea , lousy weather yea ....but immigrant-only London ?...Not in a million years .

thanks heaps
Zufan

Oh dear disillusioned already! there was another thread recently about there being not many born and bred Londoners about ... thing is London is very cosmopolitan ... there are what you might call "real" Londoners around  but they are mixed in with a lot of other people who have made London their home.  I know a lot of people who have lived for years in London but weren't born or raised here ... I don't think that makes them any less of a "real" Londoner.

Hackney is one kind of London but there are other kinds too and it sounds like you need to find your own corner, it all depends what you are looking for.  I can understand you feeling rather shell shocked in Hackney, it is not an area that would be at the top of my list of recommendations unless cheap rent is your main priority. 

As for your flat situation, look up your local Citizen's Advice Bureau and start there. They can give you some free legal advice from a housing expert. In most leases there is a one month get out clause but would need to see your lease to say for sure.

Good luck!!

I wish I had some advice to offer you but only sympathy.  Just this past Saturday I took my oldest daughter to Camden and we rode the Silverlink train back to Stratford to go home (we live in Ilford).  I told her to watch her purse as we were going through the stereotypical bad part of town.  I don't think I even needed to tell her.  The people on the train were enough to make her nervous.  I've never had any problem anyway when I've ridden the Silverlink train through Hackney but then I do my utmost to keep my head down, keep to myself, etc. 

Best of luck with finding a new place.  I do hope it works out for you both.

Zufan, didn't you view the property before you decided to rent it?

I'm afraid that if you signed a 6-month lease, you have signed a legally binding contract to pay rent on the place for 6 months.  So you could move out whenever you want, but you still have to pay rent there for the 6 months, or until the letting agents find a new tenant and release you from the contract.   The fact that you dont feel safe or comfortable is YOUR problem as far as the agents are concerned.

I feel like an interloper here, given I only found myself here out of vague curiousty of how other nationalities feel about by country but:

Chances are your contract will allow you to leave after a period all long as you give sufficient notice. You'll need to read it. The last time I rented it said I just need to give a calender month notice.

But, normally you need two things to rent somewhere in the UK, a reference from a previous landlord and a bank account, because they mostly want to take the rent straight out of your account.

So my advise is to stay there for the shortest period you can get away with, leaving on a positive note, and use the time to send up your UK finances (assuming you haven't yet).

That way, you'll find renting again easier.

Also, as long as there's no particular reason you need to in East London, could I suggest trying somewhere in West London? Take a trip on the District Line to Wimbledon. It's lovely and the rent will only be a bit more expensive (about 100-150 a month more).

Oh, and trust me, it gets better. I've been in London for 8 years, it was tough at first but now I can't imagine being anywhere else yet.

Mark.

I'm afraid I don't know the area, but I have been in a similiar situation - for several years I lived in Spanish Harlem in NYC, one of those areas that is supposed to be "up and coming" but is still pretty rough.  It's tough at first, but it's important to not hide in your flat and make yourself totally paranoid.  Be safe, of course - always double-lock your doors, don't wear flashy jewelry, splurge on taxis (as opposed to public transport) if you have to travel at night - basically, just use your common sense.    But at the same time, don't be afraid explore your neighborhood a bit - living in an area with people from many different areas can be a learning experience if you keep an open mind.   

Good luck!


(edit:  Weee, I'm a groupie!!)

thanks everyone for all the encouragment..we have now been in Dalston for a week...getting used to the extreme hustle and bustle of the street we live on but the noise at night is almost impossible to tolerate..we are making the best of it but even ear plugs have not helped...does anyone know of any special ear plugs out there ?

Have a great weekend everyone.
Zufan

Having the baby has made me immune to all night-time noises except for an infant squawk - but before that I was the ear plug queen! The best I ever used were the foam kind that you only use once and throw away - all the long-term kinds (or the wax kinds) were useless. Loads of people sell them on eBay (I guess they just steal them from work! ) that's where I always bought mine. In bulk. : )