Flat to rent, available immediately

In passing, I may have mentioned my son's rental flat, which we bought when the bottom flat in this house became available nearly three years ago. It has a front garden, at the side of which is our bike shed - sure, it was an expensive way to get the bikes out of our (narrow) hall! Of course that wasn't the only reason for buying it, but that was the most immediate effect.

Tom has been refurbishing the flat since then, interspersed with earning a living by doing carpentry and decorating elsewhere. Work has been held up by broken pipes that have required digging up our garden and the garden next door, and continually finding things that had to be sorted out properly before the next stage of rebuilding could go ahead. He's learned a lot about everything that can go wrong, and fixed it all to his perfectionist standards.

Finally it's ready. The appliances have been delivered, the carpet is in, the curtains are up ... and the tenant he had lined up to move in this week isn't moving in after all. I'm putting photos here on the blog in case any readers know of anyone who is looking, or needing, to move to north London.

The flat is 7 minutes walk from Finsbury Park station (zone 2) with its excellent transport links - and Tesco is right across the street, with Sainsburys Local a block away in either direction, and other small food stores in between, not to mention various eateries, organic shops, delicatessens, etc. And the wig stores! This area has really been changing in the past two or three years, and with the big block of new flats near the tube station is set to get even more "congenial facilities". There's a proper theatre and even (not sure if this is a good thing) a Starbucks in what used to be a sports pub. As well as many independent coffee shops and all the range of local greengrocers etc.

As to the flat itself - it has a nice little garden out front, maintained by me, and its own private rear patio. The main room is a large living space with kitchen along one wall; the bathroom is spacious. There are two double bedrooms (one with new carpet), hardwood floors, and built-in storage in every room. The going rent for a 2 double bed flat in this area is £1650 a month, and that's what he's asking, with a month's deposit. Tom's contact number is 0785 226 0305.