エジンバラ家探し（その12）

(English follows Japanese)
さて，これまでここで紹介してきた物件は実はほんの一部です．バーチャル内覧の調整が進む中，新物件が出るたびに条件にあえば問い合わせを入れていました．そこで学んだことを紹介したいと思います．

「人気エリアのお手頃物件は写真が数枚サイトに出ただけで，借り手が決まる」

10日後から内覧可能と書かれていた物件．内覧初日に内覧予約が取れましたが，物件がサイトに出た3日後には「no longer (借り手が決まったのでもはや賃貸可能物件ではない）メール」が来ました．すなわち，お利口に内覧日を待っていては，物件を取り逃すということです．

人気エリアとは，バスがたくさん走っていて，車が必要ないところ．人気の学区内などです．

お手頃物件とは，多分2ベッド．エジンバラ大学など，秋から大学に通う人たちが学生二人で借りるなどです．

HMO（Houses in Multiple Occupation）というものがあるみたいです．これは一つの物件を3人以上の借り手に貸すもの．この3人以上の借り手は家族ではない．すなわち，学生が一つの物件に複数人でシェアして住むものです．

HMO物件はすぐに近隣の大学生に持っていかれます．5人以上のHMOからは届出が必要みたいですが，それ以下の場合は届出も入らず，HMO物件として賃貸に出せるようです．物件詳細に学生物件と書いてあるものもたくさんありました．

物件概要を見て，2ベッドルームで，キッチンが独立していて広めのシッティングルーム（日本でいうところのリビングルーム）がある場合，この部屋もベッドルームにしてしまうと，学生3名が住めます（一人400ポンド/ 月くらいの破格の値段で！）．大通りから一筋入ったところにあった物件（初めて申し込みまで辿り着いた物件と直前にWhatsApp内覧がキャンセルされた物件）はおそらくそういう感じで学生が借りたのではないかと推測しています．

今回契約手続きに漕ぎ着けた運命の物件は，「HMO物件ではない」と概要の冒頭に書かれてありました．すなわち，学生ではなく家族に貸したいということ．英国ではLong-term（長期貸出）物件の長期はおよそ1年だそうで，家具付き物件はどんどん借り手が変わっていくもののようです．私たちは家族で2年で確実に帰国するので，大家さんにとっては良い条件だったのかもしれません（すべて推測の域を出ていませんが・・・），

実はまだ契約が完了していないので，気が抜けないのですが，ここで「家探し編」は終了（お休み？）し，「VISA取得編」「子供の学校探し編」などを書いていきたいと思います（6月は論文集中月間なのでだいぶ先になるかも？）．

お楽しみに．

The properties introduced here are actually only a fraction of the total. As the virtual previews were being coordinated, I would inquire about new properties as they became available, as long as they met my criteria. I would like to share with you what I have learned from this experience.

Affordable properties in popular areas are snapped up after only a few photos appear on the site.

A property that was listed as available for viewing in 10 days. I was able to make a reservation on the first day of viewing, but three days after the property appeared on the site, I wrote a "no longer available" email. In other words, if you are smart enough to wait for the viewing date, you will miss out on the property.

A popular area is one where there are many buses and you don't need a car. Popular areas are those where there are lots of buses and you don't need a car, popular school districts, etc.

Affordable housing is probably 2 beds. A two-bed apartment is for two students who will be attending a university in the fall, such as the University of Edinburgh.

Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO). This is a type of rental in which a single property is rented to three or more tenants. These three or more tenants are not family members. In other words, students share a single property with several other students.

HMO properties are quickly taken over by neighboring university students; it seems that notification is required from HMOs with 5 or more students, but less than that, no notification is required and the property can be rented as an HMO property. Many of the properties were described as student properties in the property description.

If you look at the property description and find a two-bedroom apartment with a separate kitchen and a large sitting room, you can turn this room into a bedroom as well and three students can live in it (for an unbeatable price of about 400 pounds/month per person!). The house is located at the end of the main street. I guess that this is probably how students rented the apartment that was located at the end of the main street (the first apartment I applied for and the one where the WhatsApp preview was cancelled just before the application).

The property that I was destined to sign a contract for this time was described at the beginning of the summary as "not an HMO property". In other words, they want to rent it to a family member, not a student. In the UK, long term rentals last for about a year, and it seems that furnished apartments are constantly being rented out to new tenants. We, as a family, will definitely return to Japan in two years, so it might have been a good deal for the landlord.

Actually, we have not completed the contract yet, so we are not relaxed yet, but we will finish "house-hunting" at this point (or take a break?). I'd like to write about "getting a VISA", "finding a school for my child", etc. (June is the month to concentrate on my dissertation, so it may be a while before I can write about them...) (June is the month when I concentrate on my dissertation, so it may be a while before I finish.

Please look forward to it.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)