Anybody ever have provided housing that they really didn't like?
I am a serious hike from my new cities excellent public transportation at the moment in some new digs and I want to potentially discuss this with the school.
Seeing as I am rather green at this place I fear this will go poorly (marking me as some sort of trouble maker). Next year I would be free to move out etc. Anyone have any experience with this sort of thing? I am torn between gently broaching the subject subject and seeing what answer I get or sucking it up.
Thoughts?
Provided housing
Inquiry
Is it the housing you are unhappy with or the walk from door to station?
Sounds like they are new flats/apartments?
Is the interior and amenities sub standard?
If its just the walk, how long is it?
Whats the word in the faculty/staff room? Are there other properties the IS could move you, or is everyone pretty much in the same place?
What do you expect the IS to do?
If the IS maintains a group of apartments for first year staff and there arent other options, and the actual flats/apartments interior and amenities arent sub standard are you going to make it a deal breaker. You have three options, but first understand, that IS politics is like a bank you ask for something and your spending political coin, you do something above and beyond contract, you get to put some political coin in the bank. Okay that said, housings usually a big deal, its not a trivial expense. Depending on the ISs situation it might be a really big expense. Those apartments might be on long term leases to the IS and an empty one means the IS pays the rent anyway. Whats the regional housing situation, are there large deposits, advance rent, guarantees, etc. involved in renting a flat/apartment? If there is can you absorb those costs, or will your request involve the IS essentially paying for those as well.
Assuming there isnt another location available I see three options:
THE GOOD
How much would it cost to maintain a separate residence out of pocket. You could always look for somewhere closer to your public transportation thats small and cheap and use that on the weekdays.
THE BAD
Ask your leadership for some type of fix. You cant be the only one in this situation. Maybe they can give you a transportation allowance for a taxi, maybe they can run a shuttle using a school van in the morning or maybe the IS has a school bus that can pick you up on their route. Maybe a bicycle or a parent. Frame it as a problem youd like to solve together with leadership, and not as a complaint.
THE UGLY
Ask for a change of your contract to include a housing allowance instead of provided housing. Likely thats going to cost you some major political coin, and you probably dont have it yet meaning if you get it youre going to owe, and if you dont get it then you either have to swallow it or walk.
If you swallow it they know they never have to give you anything again, and you may stew and let it fester thinking "whos stupid idea was it to rent these apartments so far from public transportation", and it will eat at you, and youll feel disrespected, etc.. No one in leadership wants to be looking for staff this time of the year, and they might very well let you walk, but if they dont your living on borrowed time.
Sounds like they are new flats/apartments?
Is the interior and amenities sub standard?
If its just the walk, how long is it?
Whats the word in the faculty/staff room? Are there other properties the IS could move you, or is everyone pretty much in the same place?
What do you expect the IS to do?
If the IS maintains a group of apartments for first year staff and there arent other options, and the actual flats/apartments interior and amenities arent sub standard are you going to make it a deal breaker. You have three options, but first understand, that IS politics is like a bank you ask for something and your spending political coin, you do something above and beyond contract, you get to put some political coin in the bank. Okay that said, housings usually a big deal, its not a trivial expense. Depending on the ISs situation it might be a really big expense. Those apartments might be on long term leases to the IS and an empty one means the IS pays the rent anyway. Whats the regional housing situation, are there large deposits, advance rent, guarantees, etc. involved in renting a flat/apartment? If there is can you absorb those costs, or will your request involve the IS essentially paying for those as well.
Assuming there isnt another location available I see three options:
THE GOOD
How much would it cost to maintain a separate residence out of pocket. You could always look for somewhere closer to your public transportation thats small and cheap and use that on the weekdays.
THE BAD
Ask your leadership for some type of fix. You cant be the only one in this situation. Maybe they can give you a transportation allowance for a taxi, maybe they can run a shuttle using a school van in the morning or maybe the IS has a school bus that can pick you up on their route. Maybe a bicycle or a parent. Frame it as a problem youd like to solve together with leadership, and not as a complaint.
THE UGLY
Ask for a change of your contract to include a housing allowance instead of provided housing. Likely thats going to cost you some major political coin, and you probably dont have it yet meaning if you get it youre going to owe, and if you dont get it then you either have to swallow it or walk.
If you swallow it they know they never have to give you anything again, and you may stew and let it fester thinking "whos stupid idea was it to rent these apartments so far from public transportation", and it will eat at you, and youll feel disrespected, etc.. No one in leadership wants to be looking for staff this time of the year, and they might very well let you walk, but if they dont your living on borrowed time.
Re: Provided housing
The building is new, nothing sub standard in the unit. New building there seems to be some relatively serious work going on downstairs which strikes me as a potential fire hazard (but when I think about it lots of buildings I have lived in have apartments being worked on maybe I am being cray cray here).
The flat is more than enough, theres an extra bedroom etc. The walk is really the issue, it is in the ballpark of an hour. There is no other applicable location, I think all other new people have a similar deal.
*I have tried to respond to your suggestions below*
The good:
This seems to be the most likely outcome from my perspective. Get a studio apt somewhere close to the metro but not in a super hip area to keep the rent down. There are buses that run to collect people that don't live in the new staff apts so presumably I could commute to one of those pick up spots. I think if I was going to do this I need to give it some time to see if I can adapt to my new situation and then consider this.
The bad: I am close to school just not much else. I like your suggestion of bringing it up as a problem we can solve together. Reasonably speaking it is not a deal breaker for me, I would rent an affordable place before I walked. It would of course hit the saving this first year but such is life.
The bad:
Yeah I am not willing to push it like that, I have no political coin and I don't want to rock the boat. I was thinking about trying to gently ask if there was any flexibility in the housing arrangements. I would be happy to cover some of the costs of getting me out of a lease, stay for a couple months if there is a notice period etc. I would also be happy to accept a much smaller place, longer commute in the morning and so on and so forth down the list of compromises (just want walking distance to a metro).
Basically I am weighing the options of:
a) sucking it up and dealing with it
b) gently asking if there is any flexibility in the arrangements (I assume it makes sense to do this sooner rather than later)
c) renting another place perhaps not immediately see how things go at first and then decide (will let me figure out where I want to live and save some $$$ by living rent free for a couple months)
d).....another option I am not considering?
The flat is more than enough, theres an extra bedroom etc. The walk is really the issue, it is in the ballpark of an hour. There is no other applicable location, I think all other new people have a similar deal.
*I have tried to respond to your suggestions below*
The good:
This seems to be the most likely outcome from my perspective. Get a studio apt somewhere close to the metro but not in a super hip area to keep the rent down. There are buses that run to collect people that don't live in the new staff apts so presumably I could commute to one of those pick up spots. I think if I was going to do this I need to give it some time to see if I can adapt to my new situation and then consider this.
The bad: I am close to school just not much else. I like your suggestion of bringing it up as a problem we can solve together. Reasonably speaking it is not a deal breaker for me, I would rent an affordable place before I walked. It would of course hit the saving this first year but such is life.
The bad:
Yeah I am not willing to push it like that, I have no political coin and I don't want to rock the boat. I was thinking about trying to gently ask if there was any flexibility in the housing arrangements. I would be happy to cover some of the costs of getting me out of a lease, stay for a couple months if there is a notice period etc. I would also be happy to accept a much smaller place, longer commute in the morning and so on and so forth down the list of compromises (just want walking distance to a metro).
Basically I am weighing the options of:
a) sucking it up and dealing with it
b) gently asking if there is any flexibility in the arrangements (I assume it makes sense to do this sooner rather than later)
c) renting another place perhaps not immediately see how things go at first and then decide (will let me figure out where I want to live and save some $$$ by living rent free for a couple months)
d).....another option I am not considering?
Re: Provided housing
I have considered that, weather will make that not so doable in the winter but tis an option
Reply
@steve416
Ive been in apartment that were in a constant state of repair/renovation/work, we dont know where you are so it just might be standard. Talk to other ITs in the staff room and get their take. If its REALLY an issue speak to the IS office and see if work materials cant be stored elsewhere out of the way.
If the winter weather will make a scooter/bike a problem its going to be even more of a problem walking. This is what happened quality sells better than convenience, and housing closer to the metro probably has exponentially highers costs the closer you get to the metro. They likely had to make a compromise between either being 20 minutes for the metro and something that looked shabby or apartments much further away that looked nicer.
Some ideas:
1) Talk to leadership about getting a pick up spot at your apartments. Really this is the easiest, they already have the infrastructure, its just adding another stop or at most another vehicle and a stop. Youll save the metro fair as well.
2) Ask about a travel allowance; its unreasonable to have to walk an hour to a metro point when everyone else gets a pickup, its might be cheaper and easier for the IS to just give you a transportation allowance or increase allowing you to take a car/taxie between your apartment and the metro.
3) A crash pad close to the metro; on work days you really just need sleep, shower, toilet, and a fridge.
4) Car pool with other ITs in your building; you can likely arrange through your IS office a taxi or driver to pick 4 or 5 of you up, if each of you splits the fare even if its a 10 minute drive thats going to be cheap, you dont have to be too comfortable if youre just going up the street to the metro.
5) Hack the route; it sounds like you are very new to the area, and your sticking to well established routes but get out Google Maps and get outside and look at whats between you and where you need to go. You might easily find something like a park, train station, shopping center, fence, or something that instead of going around you can just enter and cut through. I once had a shopping plaza that added 30 minutes to my commute, and by cutting through some outside walkways and a pavilion even in the morning I could cut over 20 minutes off my walking commute, the same goes with train platforms, parks, etc.
6) Talk to other ITs; while rare there might be someone with a car or other vehicle thats willing or would be happier with a newer apartment in exchange for theirs thats close to the metro.
Dont offer to pay anything, its a weak position, your leadership did what they did for a reason. Its not likely they can get out of the lease and they wouldnt want to anyway, many ISs have long term leases, your apartment this year will roll over to someone else when you move out. You dont and shouldnt give anything up, this is a legitimate problem the IS needs to resolve (your not the only one, and if you are, you wont be for long).
Ive been in apartment that were in a constant state of repair/renovation/work, we dont know where you are so it just might be standard. Talk to other ITs in the staff room and get their take. If its REALLY an issue speak to the IS office and see if work materials cant be stored elsewhere out of the way.
If the winter weather will make a scooter/bike a problem its going to be even more of a problem walking. This is what happened quality sells better than convenience, and housing closer to the metro probably has exponentially highers costs the closer you get to the metro. They likely had to make a compromise between either being 20 minutes for the metro and something that looked shabby or apartments much further away that looked nicer.
Some ideas:
1) Talk to leadership about getting a pick up spot at your apartments. Really this is the easiest, they already have the infrastructure, its just adding another stop or at most another vehicle and a stop. Youll save the metro fair as well.
2) Ask about a travel allowance; its unreasonable to have to walk an hour to a metro point when everyone else gets a pickup, its might be cheaper and easier for the IS to just give you a transportation allowance or increase allowing you to take a car/taxie between your apartment and the metro.
3) A crash pad close to the metro; on work days you really just need sleep, shower, toilet, and a fridge.
4) Car pool with other ITs in your building; you can likely arrange through your IS office a taxi or driver to pick 4 or 5 of you up, if each of you splits the fare even if its a 10 minute drive thats going to be cheap, you dont have to be too comfortable if youre just going up the street to the metro.
5) Hack the route; it sounds like you are very new to the area, and your sticking to well established routes but get out Google Maps and get outside and look at whats between you and where you need to go. You might easily find something like a park, train station, shopping center, fence, or something that instead of going around you can just enter and cut through. I once had a shopping plaza that added 30 minutes to my commute, and by cutting through some outside walkways and a pavilion even in the morning I could cut over 20 minutes off my walking commute, the same goes with train platforms, parks, etc.
6) Talk to other ITs; while rare there might be someone with a car or other vehicle thats willing or would be happier with a newer apartment in exchange for theirs thats close to the metro.
Dont offer to pay anything, its a weak position, your leadership did what they did for a reason. Its not likely they can get out of the lease and they wouldnt want to anyway, many ISs have long term leases, your apartment this year will roll over to someone else when you move out. You dont and shouldnt give anything up, this is a legitimate problem the IS needs to resolve (your not the only one, and if you are, you wont be for long).