Engaged couple Emmie and Jethro share a one-bedroom flat in Dalston, Hackney (Picture: Alexander Crawley/Metro.co.uk)

Trying to find a place to rent in London, but have no idea what a ‘normal’ (by London’s standards, anyway) amount to pay is?

Take a look at What I Rent, our weekly series that aims to demystify the world of renting by taking you inside a different person’s rented property each week, showing you the good bits, the expensive bits, and the state of the bathroom.

This week we’re hanging out with Emmie, 25, who shares a one-bedroom flat in Dalston, Hackney, with her fiancé Jethro, 24.

They’ve rented the flat for ten months now (Picture: Alexander Crawley/Metro.co.uk)

Hey, Emmie! How long have you and Jethro lived in the flat?




We’ve lived in Dalston, Hackney, for ten months now. Before we lived on Caledonian Road for a year – which was grim.

How much rent do you pay?

£1,450 per month.

What about bills?

£98 for council tax, £30 for gas and electric, £25 for water, £30 for internet per calendar month.

And what do you get for that money?

One bedroom, one living room, one bathroom, kitchen.

How did you find the place?

I was a bit skeptical as it had been on Zoopla for two weeks so we thought something was wrong with it. Instead it had just got lost online – we were very lucky as everything else we liked got snapped up in days.

We even risked going through an expensive estate agent which we’d never usually do as the fees are through the roof. We managed to get £50pcm off the price since it’d been online for so long.

You’ve got to haggle with these people. As my nanna always says, shy bairns get nout!

There’s one bedroom, a living room, a bathroom, and a kitchen (Picture: Alexander Crawley/Metro.co.uk)

Are you happy where you live?

We’re very happy where we live. It’s bright, airy, so much quieter and not on a busy road.

There’s great access to bars and restaurants on Kingsland Road and Dalston.

Hackney Downs green space is a four minute walk away, there are great transport links and the neighbours are lovely. We’re surrounded by cute kids!

Oh and we have a bath. Result!

Do you feel like you’ve got enough space?

Yeah – except when we have guests. The camping chairs and air beds come out!

Our last place had two beds but we found it was just a place to store our crap so we sacrificed a room.

Annoyingly our storage space is a bit rubbish now, we had to ask for a new freezer and wardrobe since the landlord didn’t have one.

Their stuff is in our cupboards and under our bed – obviously we’re not allowed to touch it or know what it is. Feels like we’re paying for their storage sometimes, really.

What’s it like living with Jethro?

Amazing. I’ve hated every flatshare I’ve been in – I’ve lived with druggies, hoarders and a doctor who padlocked her bedroom. It’s nice to finally be living with my best friend.



I do the cooking, he does the washing and we sit in our pants drinking beer and watching The Walking Dead.

We’ve only lived together for 18 months as we were long distance for 2.5 years – I travelled from Glasgow to Bristol every six weeks which was horrendous.

(Picture: Alexander Crawley/Metro.co.uk)

All sounds grand. Are there any problems with the flat?

Nothing too major. There’s a bad leak in the kitchen and bathroom which does seem to be getting worse. It’s a little cold in the winter but Jethro’s tight with the heating.

Generally the estate agents are great which is refreshing. I’d still love to throttle every motorbike that goes past at 4am but every Londoner has that problem.

In our last place we had mice, an ant invasion and the biggest flies you’ve ever seen. This time round we found a fully intact mouse skeleton under the fridge. I’ve never heard Jethro scream like it – but it means we don’t need to get the place professionally cleaned when we leave.

How have you made the place feel like your own?

Jethro’s a great photographer so we’ve put his photos of places we’ve been together on the wall. We have my sister’s artwork, ‘Lady and the Trump,’ up too.

Jethro has a ‘man section’ full of Lego and vinyl and I have my books. He has his own special duster for his shrine…

The couple have made the flat their own with plenty of small touches (Picture: Alexander Crawley/Metro.co.uk)

Would you move again?

We’re both planning on staying in London for the foreseeable future so it’s unlikely we’d move again as we’re so happy here.


Hopefully we won’t have to as the landlord is great and lets us be.

Have you thought about buying a place?

Never, ever in London! We’re marrying next year and then it’s time to think about kids and we simply couldn’t afford to start a family here.

We’re only in London with the nature of our jobs, when I think about it.

I’d like to buy a place up North with the savings accounts we’ve set up but it won’t be for quite a long time.

Our pipe dream would be moving to Scandinavia but we will see what Brexit brings, won’t we?

A Scandi flat does sound lovely… shall we take a look at Emmie and Jethro’s current spot in Dalston?

The kitchen (Picture: Alexander Crawley/Metro.co.uk)

Some excellent spice organisation (Picture: Alexander Crawley/Metro.co.uk)

Points for putting garlic in a jar (Picture: Alexander Crawley/Metro.co.uk)

(Picture: Alexander Crawley/Metro.co.uk)

The living room doubles as a dining space (Picture: Alexander Crawley/Metro.co.uk)

‘The Lady and the Trump’ (Picture: Alexander Crawley/Metro.co.uk)

Cute (Picture: Alexander Crawley/Metro.co.uk)

Also cute (Picture: Alexander Crawley/Metro.co.uk)

The bedroom (Picture: Alexander Crawley/Metro.co.uk)

Yes that is the Millennium Falcon made of Lego. Jealous? (Picture: Alexander Crawley/Metro.co.uk)

(Picture: Alexander Crawley/Metro.co.uk)

The bathroom… with a bath! (Picture: Alexander Crawley/Metro.co.uk)

(Picture: Alexander Crawley/Metro.co.uk)

Nothing says loving cohabitation like two toothbrushes nestled together in a cup (Picture: Alexander Crawley/Metro.co.uk)

In case you, like me, enjoy looking at people’s toiletries (Picture: Alexander Crawley/Metro.co.uk)

What I Rent is a weekly series that’s out every Tuesday at 10am. Check back next week to have a nose around another rented property in London.

How to get involved in What I Rent What I Rent is Metro.co.uk's weekly series that takes you inside the places people are renting, to give us all a better sense of what's normal and how much we should be paying. If you fancy taking part, please email whatirent@metro.co.uk. You'll need to have pictures taken of your kitchen, living room, bathroom, and bedroom, plus a few photos of you in your room. Make sure you get permission for your housemates! You'll also need to be okay with sharing how much you're paying for rent, as that's pretty important.

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