⭕ I have a two bedroom garden flat in a pretty village in north west London, convenient for shops and, although zone 4, with good transport links into central London. I was in a position to visit New York and New Jersey for the last four summers but now can only afford to do so if I can arrange a swap as I dont yet want to sell (I am a leaseholder). I have lived in the flat and area for 10 years and now that my parents are no longer alive would like to spend more time in the US and try to work before retirement age. I have lived for about 3.5 years in total in the US and briefly in Argentina in the 1980s, and otherwise lived as child in France, Wales and New Zealand before coming back to the UK aged 11.

I am a former politics teacher, in my late 50s, with dual citizenship. I will probably want to have trunks (mostly with my late parents things in) in the flat but both bedrooms should be usable and the flat is still fairly uncluttered and light. The garden is secluded and very big for London. You can park off the street if you want to, although youll then look out onto the car in front. Ill post photos of the flat and garden later. I feed the animals in the garden and would prefer someone who did, but otherwise they will find somewhere else. We would obviously come to an arrangement about bills - I currently pay gas, electricity, water, and council tax, as well as for the phone and broadband (I hardly watch the TV so as not to pay the licence but that could be arranged). The flat is in a reasonably good state of repair but as, I think, in New York and New Jersey there can be pressure to maintain things (I am currently in dispute about unfinished repairs to windows, but the flat is secure). The rent for this sort of flat would I think be about 350 pounds a week (based on a resale value of about 350 thousand pounds - although the lease is only now around 75 years) if it were to be formally let without trunks and in slightly better decorative order. I would be happy to look after any animals you have. I would consider a sub-let but really would prefer to be on my own, which is why I have stayed in hotels for the nine months or so I have visited since 2013.

My phone is currently difficult to speak into - I am waiting for British Telecom to send an engineer - but you should be able to leave messages or email. This is a real ad and the flat is my only property, where I currently live. The flat would be available from whenever anyone was interested but for a minimum of one year. In my visits to the US in recent years, Ive stayed mainly in Manhattan and Newark, New Jersey, but would consider other areas. My postcode is NW9 9AR in case it doesnt show on the ad.