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The editionPosted every week

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The Vacancy Page

Notes on the rental hunt, read from the notices

Posted every week

wanted

The search

the tenant's side of the hunt: checklists, viewings, budgets, shared flats

Pinned in this column

4

wanted The search

A printed moving checklist on top of a taped cardboard box, half the boxes ticked in pencil, a marker and a roll of packing tape beside it, apartment hallway light

The moving checklist

On the printed checklist that stood in for a ceremony: utilities, forwarding, notice, and the small liturgy of the ticked box.

wanted The search

The open door of a rental apartment seen from the hallway, a clipboard hanging on the doorknob, two pairs of shoes lined up outside, warm corridor light

How a viewing actually works

On the unwritten etiquette of the apartment viewing: the shoes, the clipboard, the questions worth asking and what visitors really check.

wanted The search

A shared apartment kitchen with two kettles and two sets of mugs on the counter, a cork board with a room-for-rent card pinned, morning light

The shared flat column

On the roommate-wanted cards and the shared accommodation notices: what the column promised, and the kitchen with two kettles.

wanted The search

A household budget worksheet on a kitchen table with a small calculator, rent receipts and utility bills in two piles, a mug of tea

What the budget sheet was for

On the rental budget worksheet the old portals gave away: rent, deposits, the first-month sum, and the arithmetic of the new address.