30 Days of Autism Acceptance: Day 23

#30DaysofAutismAcceptance

Day 23: 

Talk about your living situation.  Where do you live?  Do you live alone or with other people?  Are you happy with your current living arrangements?

This is a short post because the answers are simple and short. I currently live in Exeter, Devon (southwest England) - I originally moved down in September 2006 for university and apart from a period of 15 months between July 2009 and September 2010 when I moved back to my parents', I've lived here ever since.

I live in a privately-rented 2-bedroom ground-floor flat with Gideon, my husband. I moved here 3 1/2 years ago in December 2013, as the house-share I was in beforehand split when Jeremy, one of my housemates (originally a uni friend and still someone I consider to be one of my best friends) got a job in Swindon, as commuting between Exeter and Swindon really isn't viable! I looked for one-bedroom ground-floor places but there were none that were suitable (there are so many "ground floor" places that have several steps up or down to them, it's ridiculous!) This place is ideal for a wheelchair-user - although I can walk a little bit I need somewhere I can simply roll into and out of if I'm having a really bad day. Our landlord is a great bloke - it's the only property he rents out (he originally bought it for his disabled mum, so the bathroom is a wet room, which is perfect for me!) Gideon moved down a week before Easter 2014. The Church teaches that you shouldn't really live together prior to marriage but that wasn't financially viable for us.

The little estate on which we live was originally a council estate and some of the properties are still council-owned. The city council still owns the actual buildings - including, we discovered last year, our front door! It's because it opens onto a communal area (the stairwell) so fire safety regulations mean that the council is responsible for ensuring doors are up to standard and so on. It's a lovely little estate and I really like it here. I've even got my own disabled parking space - when I moved in there was one painted on the road that wasn't in use, as it had belonged to a resident who's since moved away, so I started using it and the neighbours left it free for me, and last year the council repainted the disabled bays on the estate so I phoned up to get this one redone and now it's registered to me.

I'd love to own my own place one day and maybe eventually I will. But when you're chronically ill/disabled in this economy, finding employment is extremely difficult, so I suspect being a homeowner is quite a way away.

I'm happy enough with my current living situation.