When my partner moved to Glasgow, he selected a short-term furnished apartment with the plan that when I joined him, we would look for a more “permanent” place together. His place is in a convenient location and great for one. Now a year and a half later, here I am and things are quite cozy. So, as soon I got through my fourteen-day quarantine, we set off to start searching for apartments and here are some of my observations . . .
One thing that surprised me originally about Glasgow was the large number of Victorian-era buildings throughout the city. On reflection, it makes sense as I’ve learned more about Glasgow’s history. Trade has been very important here for a long time with it being the largest hub within the UK for American tobacco until the American Revolutionary War, then, a major textile manufacturing center before it became the global leader in shipbuilding, especially around the years before and after the turn of the 20th Century.
With all the industry came a huge spike in the city’s population. Remnants of that can be seen in the masses of tenement houses that stand from that era today. According to some real estate people we’ve met along the way, the solid construction of these buildings has meant that they are still highly valued as homes to today’s Glaswegian. Though reconfigured over time, they still tend to have nice high ceilings and large windows, but few, if any, closets.
As apartment search continues, sometimes it feels a bit like going to school. I knew a few things already from many years of reading British novels and watching Masterpiece theater. First, an apartment is called a flat and second, what they call the first floor here is actually the second floor since our first floor is called their ground floor. (That latter bit is also true in many other places I’ve visited, but can still be a bit confusing.)
A funny aspect of this process has been seeing a familiar word being used in a way that is completely unfamiliar. Here are a few examples:
“Cladding” – when we’ve viewed some more modern buildings this word came up as a potential issue we should be aware of. Tragically, the Grenfell Tower fire in London in 2017 raised awareness that some exterior building materials used in recent years are highly flammable. Major efforts are underway to replace these where present throughout the country.
“The Close” – we would see a reference to “the close” in listings and had no idea what they were talking about. It actually refers to the communal area of the tenement, basically the entry hall and the stairs.
And, related to my point above on knowing which floor is which is a very important factor if you’re going to be lugging groceries – no elevators in sight.
“The Factor” – we kept reading about some flats being factored and others being self-factored. As it turns out, this refers to whether the residents of the building have hired a company (a/k/a “the factor”) to maintain common areas like cleaning the close and monitoring for any major needed repairs in the building. If you’re self-factored, let’s hope you’re not afraid of heights while cleaning those steps.
As we’ve still not settled on our next home I’m sure some further misadventures lie ahead. For now, I’m incredibly grateful to have a roof over my head in this time when so many are facing eviction.
Wishing you all health, security and warmth . . .
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