I love Edinburgh but the worst aspect of living here has been finding a place to live here. My flat situation fell through and I became quite uncomfortable living with my current flatmate. I decided to look for a flat with a friend from university. Time was short as both of us are busy veterinary students we posted on several websites and asked many friends and went to numerous flat viewings. The flat viewings were extremely competitive having on average 10 other pairs of flatmates viewing the same place. Summer was approaching and we still didn’t have a place to return to in September. Both of us were away for the summer and could not secure a flat without going to viewings in person. My friend’s parents became interested in buying a flat to sublet to me to simplify the situation since we were having such bad luck. They put in a cash offer over summer but did not get the place. Buying options were also limited and very expensive. I cancelled one of my work placements for university in order to stay in Edinburgh mid-summer to search for a flat to no avail. I asked my employer to store my belongings for me in her garage out of city centre. One friend within the city stored a few things I would need access to over summer and let me stay in her flat for a bit. The first two weeks back at university saw me sleeping in 3 different places before staying in the room of a friend out of the country for a month.
-Mayleena
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