I'm from the UK too, and I know about the prices of houses in London ... But I refuse to believe there isn't such thing as an Esate Agents for Wizards! Most of them will be paying in Knuts, Sickles and Galleons, not in pounds so house prices wouldn't really affect them in the same way. I don't think living in a house in London would be more expensive for witches and wizards.
I think what is meant by wizard houses is a Muggle house adapted magically, not constructed completely by wizards (and even if they did, do you think they'd do it the hard way?). I can't shake the feeling that would be slightly harder to adapt a trendy upmarket apartment. I also can't shake the feeling that a lot of wizards just wouldn't want that sort of house. It's a bit too full of Muggle conveniences and not enough character.
They probably wouldn't use a Muggle estate agent, either. Who knows how they end up with their houses? Be imaginative!
I'm with you on the "why does it have to be trendy and Muggle," but if you're writing about young people who have just left school, giving them a flat in London does make a fair bit of sense. Owning a house seems too stressful, permanent, and generally grown-uppish for my tastes, even if I could afford it, and I'm thirty. And I suspect that most eighteen-year-olds who have just spent the last seven years at boarding school in the middle of nowhere would perceive London as a fun and happening place to be (look at Fred and George, for example, and they're at least as fond of Quidditch as Harry).
Definitely agree that it should be a wizarding sort of flat, though.
Well, I'm not entirely sure as I don't live in London, but I know that for me, when I left school, that I wanted a government job, and therefore lived as close to the center of my county as possible. I would think that anyone just out of Hoggy Hogwarts, particularly if they want a Ministry job, would want to live in London. Plus, if you grow up in the country, don't you usually want a taste of the city for a while? Throw off the old 'Rents, move into a leaky cold-water bedsitter, and really understand what it means to be miserable until you finally find a roommate and get a decent townhouse
( ... )
I think it's because a good deal of the young fanfic writers out there don't hail from England and are probably afraid to set anything anywhere other than a "trendy London flat" simply because they're not familiar with the country's geography or housing
( ... )
Which leads me to wonder about what effect an unplottable party would have on the neighbors. Would they just hear noise all night and never know where it was coming from and start blaming each other? That could be hilarious.
You're forgetting that wizards can apparate and teleport by Floo Powder. They don't need to live in London to work or visit London frequently :-)
But also they might not buy houses from Muggles, even if they live in Muggle houses. A lot of wizards have blatantly never handled Muggle money so they wouldn't have done something as complicated as buying a house using it. Perhaps in Diagon Alley there's a property shop, advertising features such as houses with the biggest fireplaces or the roomiest attic for the pet ghoul. I can imagine it!
I don't think they'd need a secret keeper to hide their room from Muggles. The Leaky Cauldron can only be seen by wizards and Platform 9 3/4 can only be accessed by wizards ... And I bet a lot of nastier wizards put more gruesome deterrants for Muggles around their doors, like doormats that eat the feet of Avon ladies or something like that.
I realise now why I'm a bit iffy about the idea of a wizard living in an upmarket designer Muggle flat. They never have a fireplace, which seems to be one of the most common ways to communicate and travel. Or lack plug sockets, which wizards wouldn't use and most have never seen.
But I just wanted to point out, because I didn't make myself very clear ... I have no problem with a young wizard moving into a flat. My problem is that too many people do that (making it a cliche), and without thinking about how they can make it less Muggle. It's just that a bit of variety and wizardry would be nice!
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They probably wouldn't use a Muggle estate agent, either. Who knows how they end up with their houses? Be imaginative!
But I'm sick of trendy apartments as well.
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Definitely agree that it should be a wizarding sort of flat, though.
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But also they might not buy houses from Muggles, even if they live in Muggle houses. A lot of wizards have blatantly never handled Muggle money so they wouldn't have done something as complicated as buying a house using it. Perhaps in Diagon Alley there's a property shop, advertising features such as houses with the biggest fireplaces or the roomiest attic for the pet ghoul. I can imagine it!
I don't think they'd need a secret keeper to hide their room from Muggles. The Leaky Cauldron can only be seen by wizards and Platform 9 3/4 can only be accessed by wizards ... And I bet a lot of nastier wizards put more gruesome deterrants for Muggles around their doors, like doormats that eat the feet of Avon ladies or something like that.
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But I just wanted to point out, because I didn't make myself very clear ... I have no problem with a young wizard moving into a flat. My problem is that too many people do that (making it a cliche), and without thinking about how they can make it less Muggle. It's just that a bit of variety and wizardry would be nice!
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