流利阅读 2019.2.27 How sky-high rents forced people into imaginative alternatives

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How sky-high rents forced people into imaginative alternatives
天价房租如何迫使人们更有想象力地租房

Renting a property in the UK can be a bleak business. The average monthly rent rose to £932 last month and in London it is even more expensive at £1,588, according to new figures.
在英国租房是件难事。最新数据显示，上个月英国的平均月租金升至 932 英镑，而在伦敦，平均月租金更高达 1588 英镑。

With spiralling rents leaving many people with barely any disposable income, let alone the means to save towards a deposit, some are now choosing alternatives.
房租的急速上涨，使得许多人几乎没有任何可支配收入，更别提想办法存够定金了，因此有些人开始选择其他的租房形式。

The older choice
和老年人同住

Office administrator Tina Gotla-Aluri, 42, was struggling to cope with the £950 a month she was paying for her house share in Putney, south-west London, when a friend suggested Share and Care Homeshare, which matches older homeowners who have a spare room with people who can offer practical help in exchange. She now lives in Putney with a man in his 90s and pays £180 a month to the scheme.
此前，42 岁的办公室行政人员蒂娜·戈特拉-阿鲁里和别人在伦敦西南部的帕特尼合租，而 950 英镑一个月的费用总是让她疲于应付。后来，一位朋友向她推荐了 Share and Care Homeshare，这个平台能为家里有空余房间的年长房东匹配能为他们提供切实帮助的潜在租客。如今，她和一名 90 多岁的男子同住在他位于帕特尼的家里，每个月只用向平台支付 180 英镑的租金。

In return, Gotla-Aluri provides companionship, goes food shopping, and cooks meals. “He is quite well travelled and food is one of the things we have bonded over,” she says. “I cook British food like Sunday dinners and sometimes Indian or Moroccan food. It’s mutually beneficial.”
作为回报，戈特拉-阿鲁里平时会陪伴这位老人，还会买菜做饭。“他去过很多地方，美食成了我们的一个共同话题，”她说，“我一般会做英国菜，比如周日大餐，有时我也会烧印度菜和摩洛哥口味的菜。这是一种互惠互助的关系。”

Sitting it out
替别人看家

While some people house-sit for free to get a taste of luxury or a different life for a few weeks, designer Jennifer Hamley, 39, and her husband, Ben, 37, have turned it into a way to live rent-free.
有些人会免费帮别人看家，如此，他们便可以在几周的时间里奢侈一把，又或是体验另一种生活方式，而 39 岁的设计师詹妮弗·哈姆利和她 37 岁的丈夫本，却已经把帮人看家变成了一种免租金的生活方式。

The couple house-sit through TrustedHousesitters.com, which connects home and pet owners with house-sitters and costs each party £89 for an annual membership. They house-sit mainly in Brighton, taking care of pets, the home, post and watering plants.
这对夫妇在 TrustedHousesitters.com 上寻找需要照看的房子，该网站将房主和宠物主人跟看家人连接在一起，双方每年各需支付 89 英镑的会员费。这对夫妇主要在布莱顿看家，平时照顾宠物、打理房子、收发邮件，也给植物浇水。

“It is a peace of mind for many homeowners. A homeowner doesn’t need to get anyone to check in on the house, and pet owners don’t have to pay kennels, catteries or dog walkers.”
他们表示：“对许多房主来说，有人看家让他们放心多了。房主不用时不时就请人来看一眼房子，而宠物主人也不用花钱临时租狗舍、猫舍，或者请人遛狗了。”

————— 文章来源 / 卫报

重点词汇

alternative/ɔːlˈtɜːrnətɪv/
n. 可供选择的解决办法；另一种可能

近义词：choice; method
例句：What’s the alternative?

bleak/bliːk/
adj. 悲观的；无望的

英文释义：has little or no hope for the future
搭配短语：a bleak prospect
相关词汇：business（n. 麻烦或复杂的事情）
例句：It can be a difficult business getting a pay raise or a job promotion.

spiral/ˈspaɪrəl/
v. （费用、价格等）急剧增长，急速上升

相关词汇： increase (v.), increasing (adj.)
例句：After she got her third credit card, her spending began to spiral out of control.

disposable/dɪˈspoʊzəbl/
adj. （金融资产）可支配的；可丢弃的

搭配短语：disposable chopsticks
搭配短语：disposable assets
例句：If you take rents into account, many of us in big cities are also left with very little disposable income.

deposit/dɪˈpɑːzɪt/
n. 存款；定金