'Digs'

Rip-offs would be the term of today judging by some of the minty looking accommodations they call bedsits.

I was in ‘digs’ for my first year as a student. There were three students in a three bedroom semi; I shared with one other girl, one had a single room, and the couple who owned the house had the other room. We had our own sitting/ dining room. Breakfast and evening meals were provided. We all shared one bathroom.
Would any students live like that now?
The landlady was lovely and I put on loads of weight during my stay there.

I started off life in digs .... I was leaving home at 18 to work in a town about 60 miles away Mum and Dad rang the local police station and was given a list of ‘digs’ in the area
I had my own bedroom but everything else was shared including meals the first few weeks were ok then I met a new boyfriend who (obviously) wasn’t English I was told by my landlady to ask ‘my young man’ to meet me at the end of the road as he couldn’t be seen coming to their door
I packed my bag and slept in a spare room of one of my new work mates until I could get somewhere else
This wasn’t the only time this happened

I would imagine it's more that no one in their right mind who owns property would do that when they can simply rent out the property and make a fortune.

I think ‘digs’ have morphed into spareroom.com.

That's lovely though- phoning the Police station for the names of decent digs. Those were the days!
Seems like people want their own flats nowadays rather than have a resident landlady.

BlueBelle

I started off life in digs .... I was leaving home at 18 to work in a town about 60 miles away Mum and Dad rang the local police station and was given a list of ‘digs’ in the area
I had my own bedroom but everything else was shared including meals the first few weeks were ok then I met a new boyfriend who (obviously) wasn’t English I was told by my landlady to ask ‘my young man’ to meet me at the end of the road as he couldn’t be seen coming to their door
I packed my bag and slept in a spare room of one of my new work mates until I could get somewhere else
This wasn’t the only time this happened

That’s sad. So when people hark back to the good old days....they weren’t all good!

I left home at 19 into a bed sit in a huge house. Shared kitchen.
So much fun there with all the different residents.
2 of us got on so well that we decided to get our own flat.
They were both in Greenwich.
Then I moved to Southend to another bed sit. That was great as well. There were 3 of us girls who got on really well, going out together, sharing clothes, makeup, problems ?

I think the term "digs" is a brummie thing.
Iv`e never heard the term outside of brum,it`s always bed sit/B n B/motel.
But at least we all know what they are.

'Digs' certainly isn't a Brummie thing. The first time I heard it was as a small girl when I was told that my uncle was going to London and going to live in 'digs'. Older novels mention that word too. I read of staff for Bletchley Park being found 'digs' in local houses during the war etc. Sometimes referred to as 'Diggings'.
Of course in the past there was much more communal living. Just thinking of student nurses living in the nurses' home, YMCAs and YWCAs and residential clubs. Even big stores had accommodation for staff. Different times.
Sorry. Being boring. This just got me thinking.

I think 'digs' have morphed into 'multi occupancy premises'. There are plenty of them still around, but where in the past the owner also lived in the house, now the owner lives away. has several such properties and they are often right at the bottom of the living quarters ladder, being poorly maintained and often unsafe and unregistered.

In the past many people took in a lodger to supplement their income. I can remember my grandmother doing that, all nice young Irish men and women. They were coming over to London to work and their parents would contact the local parish priest at home who usually had contact with a parish priest where the job was and they would be found digs with a nice catholic family. My grandmother had the security of knowing that the lodger came through the priest, with a home reference and that if there were any problems, her parish priest would help her resolve them.

Thanks Avelin,i`m never to old to learn.

timetogo2016

I think the term "digs" is a brummie thing.
Iv`e never heard the term outside of brum,it`s always bed sit/B n B/motel.
But at least we all know what they are.

I lived in 'digs' too, it was in the West Country. The couple were recommended by the Tourist Board and I remember being told the landlady "kept a good table" . I'd never heard that expression before but yes, we got excellent food.
We were allowed a bath once a week or had to pay extra if we wanted another one!
There were several students plus one young man who was working.

Sometimes the couple who ran it tried to act more like parents but on the whole they were very kind.

There's an old tale of Peter Cook's about a stingy landlady. A lodger said to her one day, 'I hear you keep a bee?'. Presumably honey was strictly rationed.

I lived in digs near Heathrow airport when I first went to work for an airline. Most of the other residents were trainee cabin crew who went home at weekends. The landlady wasn't too keen on the fact that, as ground staff, I didn't work monday to friday and would therefore be around at weekends. It was ok but I was glad to leave and share a rented flat with another girl (even if it was virtually at the end of the runway and very noisy).

I lived in "digs" for a year as a student much like yours grandmajet. But our landlady was a widow who also worked as a teacher. I shared a room with another girl I had never met before (can't imagine anyone doing that now!). We had breakfast and evening meal which were always substantial. She had the oldest electric toaster I had ever seen. You had to sort of flip it round to toast both sides.
I do know when theatres are open performers sometimes have theatrical digs they stay in in towns. They prefer landladies who are used to them and don't mind the odd hours they sometimes keep.

When I started work in a bank, back in 1969, they moved the young male bank clerks around the district to different branches as part of their training. (Only the males, female bank clerks didn’t rise to more than cashiers back then).

They were given a ‘lodging allowance’, which meant they could have bed and board in local homes during the week, and return home at weekends.

One young man was very homesick, and took off in his lunch hour and went back to mum, some 70 or so miles away. He was persuaded to come back and it was never mentioned again!

I lived in student digs when I was 18, but ate all my meals in college. Another girl and I shared a bedroom, no lock. During holidays the landlady's granddaughter went in there and broke my late grandmother's vanity mirror. My mum blamed me!

Many years ago, when my dad worked away from home a lot, he stayed in digs. I recall Mum saying that some places were not very desirable but a a couple of 'land ladies ' became family friends regularly sending Christmas cards and birthday gifts for my siblings and myself.

Surely "digs" have an on-site landlord and are basically lodging (so almost no rights).

My landlady had a little grandson aged about 3 or 4.
One of my relatives in Australia sent me a small toy koala and I can remember Roger (who used to come and chat to me) asked what his name was.
I said I hadn't given him a name so Roger said, very firmly: "He's called Roger".

He was Roger the Lodger.