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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Those of you who rent, do you nest or not bother?

116 replies

KnittedBreast · 09/02/2011 14:58

I privatly rent my house and this is the first one I am determined to settle in. This means I need to stop looking at similar budgets in cheaper parts of the UK and depressing myself. I am currently doing up my house, today i went looking at oak to make shelves (didnt realise how expensive oak was, looks like wel only be getting 2 shelves this month!)

to those of you who rent, do you bother to make your home your own knowing it isnt yours and yo could be asked to move, all that wasted time and money etc...

I never used to but having realised unless someone dies il never buy ive decided to do it, fuck the deposit (like il ever see it again anyway). ive painted walls and put up coat things and am planning on shelves and outisde ornaments. Its my little bit of paradise even if i wouldnt chose to live in this house if i had the choice to move

OP posts:
ambarth · 09/02/2011 18:48

Two months notice, to find another home, school for the kids etc. Expat is right, complete inequality with regards to property in this class ridden shithole of a country.

expatinscotland · 09/02/2011 18:55

2 months after the first 4 months of your 6-month short-assured tenancy.

EVEN if you have a longer contract, many have that 2-month clause written in.

carriedababi · 09/02/2011 18:59

2 months!!Shock

i am truely shocked by that, ithought it was at least 6 months

that would be a nightmare to sort out schooling etc

NancyDrewHadaClue · 09/02/2011 19:02

We rent a brand new place overseas and have spent money having the garden done (just a big sandpit if we don't), putting up curtains and painting the DC's rooms etc. We have put up shelves etc but I do try to get free standing furniture wherever possible so I can take it if/when we go.

It is our home for the time being and I spend more time there than anywhere else so I like it to look nice.

We also rent out our previous home in the UK and previous tenants have done bits and pieces in the past (painted, plants in garden etc) which I have always been more than happy for them to do.

spikeycow · 09/02/2011 19:07

People say "what's the big deal about buying property" without realising that if you don't have thousands of pounds to spend on deposits and references every time then it's a different story. I'd love to have a home for my children to grow up in. Instead I can't afford to save because private rents are just legalised robbery. And then you can't even get a hamster without begging

ambarth · 09/02/2011 19:37

@spikeycow Anyone who thinks like that has never brought up kids in private rented, I bet.

QueenBathsheba · 09/02/2011 20:46

I managed to get into a HA house after a helpful health visitor got stuck into the HA! DH left when DS1 was 6 months old and the rental agent would not accept housing benefit.

I feel very priveledged to have been offered a home, because it is a home and I can put down roots with my children.

I can't imagine the hell of having to move every 6 months with children. When we rented privately they put the rent up every 6 months and the rent in this area is an average of £1200 a month for a modest three bed hs.

springbokdoc · 09/02/2011 21:03

After renting our place for five years we've painted and put up our own curtains etc. Our lovely landlord has just recarpeted the entire house after we asked (previous hideous carpets).

I feel happy doing bits and bobs - we have to live here so i view it as our home. if i enjoy living here by doing something well it's money well spent. But i only feel happy doing it because we have a super landlord - was really understanding at the beginning when our monthly rent was not particularly on time Blush. i honestly don't think he would try and screw us over.

btw, does anyone get their deposits back? i never seem to get it all and when i get some of it it's always months and months after i've left.

lololizzy · 09/02/2011 21:09

QueenB', we were very lucky to have got into a HA property too. It's small but definitely the cleanest/well maintained place i've ever lived in. and came freshly decorated Smile

expatinscotland · 09/02/2011 21:10

'btw, does anyone get their deposits back? i never seem to get it all and when i get some of it it's always months and months after i've left.'

After we were robbed for £1300 in deposits over 2 properties, we stopped paying the last month's rent.

Keep in mind that Scotland doesn't yet have the protected deposit scheme yet.

sherby · 09/02/2011 21:18

Regarding DH fitting a bathroom here, we wanted a bath, we rented knowing there was only a shower and it was half a days work and £100 to sort it.

We have been able to enjoy having a bath for the last two years instead of a crappy shower so its more than worth it.

We are lucky in that our landlord has no interest in selling this house. He inherited it with about 5 other siblings and it would be a pain in the arse to get them all to agree to sell at the same time. He said when we moved in, as long as it worked out we could stay as long as we wanted.

I possibly wouldn't of fitted a bathroom if I thought we could be kicked out in 2 months.

sherby · 09/02/2011 21:18

And the kids trashed the carpet in the living room so I had no problem replacing that.

whensitgunnahappen · 09/02/2011 21:19

We have always rented and we will have no chance of buying a house anytime soon as we don't have a deposit (and my shoe habit gets in the way of hardcore saving tbh) I have no problem and make my home as homly as it can be without breaking my tenancy agreement. I would love to rent where I am on a 5 year agreement. Really make it ours. my family live in Europe and it's only really in the uk we have such an obsession with buying property. If landlords would rent long leases (like on the continent) with a review annually of inflation rates and rent,i would happily add value to someone elses house! I guess it's the poor landlords who get bad tenents who wreck property's reservations as to why this isn't so popular in the uk

Jux · 09/02/2011 21:21

I had a lovely landlady. I would just ring her up and say I'd like to do such and such and she'd ask how much it would cost and then she'd pay for it! At worst split the cost.

bubbleandsqueaks · 09/02/2011 21:23

This thread is scaring the hell out of me, we have just put our house up for sale (horrrible neighbours and dislike area) and will spend the rest of our life renting as we wont be able to afford to buy again.

We want to get away from here and live somewhere nice but renting sounds awful now.

Are we mad?

QueenBathsheba · 09/02/2011 21:40

Bubble you are barking Wink

whensitgunnahappen · 09/02/2011 21:41

Oh don't get me wrong bubbleandsqueak, I love renting. I rent beautiful homes that I could never afford to buy as a 1st time buyer. I love that we just pack up and move if necessary. I just wish I had a good relationship with my landlord like some of the others here so I could paint and wallpaper and really make sone changes. I just deal with the agency so Its hard for him to get to know us and trust us. I make it homely though by yhe furniture and colour themes (rugs,throws ect) so Its not so magnolia!

whensitgunnahappen · 09/02/2011 21:45

Spikeycow! Just read your post. Hell yea! Legalised robbery! We paid £1200 a month in rent alone last year. No bills. Nothing included. Yet we can't get a mortgage as I havnt got 20k deposit! Go figure ?!?

expatinscotland · 09/02/2011 21:56

I'd rather rent forever if the only place I could buy was an ex-LA that is in any way attached to another property for the reasons you have for wanting to move, bubble.

Back in the way when they were doing self-cert 100% mortgages for like, 10x multiples, that's what we could afford, so, having lived as renters in LA house, we chose to keep renting.

We've had serious neighbour probs in LA/HA flats/homes and thankfully could just move as we were renting. But it put us ever buying such, unfortunately.

In fact, I'd be wary of every buying an attached property at all as in the UK, people can behave even criminally in their homes with absolutely no consequence at all, making life hell for everyone around them.

bubbleandsqueaks · 09/02/2011 22:15

thats very reassuring.

Jumping into the rental market, having never rented before, is scaring the life out of us.

But on the flip side, I making dh sleep on the sofa as I'm terrified the yob down the road will be back for revenge when he (eventually) gets arrested for criminal damage to our property, I am seriously considering buying an anti-arson letterbox and that isn't any way to live.

Sorry for hijack - I must stay away from the renting threads!

spikeycow · 09/02/2011 22:27

Can't you rent to buy or part own? If not you'll have to make it clear you want a long lease from the beginning, no selling up after 6 months. Nothing is guaranteed but hopefully you'll find a landlord who wants long term renters

NacMacFeegle · 09/02/2011 22:52

I love this rental - after a hellish time with the last landlord (an agent) I have been nearly a year here, with a private landlord who is wonderful. I offered to pay half to get rid of carpets and put hard flooring down, so that's done (carpets didn't "need" replacing but I am asthmatic), the landlord fixes everything within days of reporting, bought xmas pressies for the kids and makes a special trip down to give them a present on their birthday!

I have an indefinite lease, basically it's mine as long as I want it, which is perfect for us. :D

Cain · 09/02/2011 23:13

I rent and will nest to an extent. If the paintwork is vile, I will repaint, I own a lot of rugs and have been known to put down laminate (clickclack) flooring then take it with me. There is a lot of cosmetic work that can be done with little cost or objection from the landlord and just makes your home your own.

I don't move a lot so like to keep good relations with landlord.

I always do a lot in the garden as I find it therapeutic and gives a LOT of satisfaction back especially in the summer.

When I first left my ex and lived in a council property it had a garden full of rubble and a pool that had been filled in with rubbish.

I cleared all the concrete, levelled the ground, put down a layer of topsoil and laid a full turf, it went from a death trap for a toddler to a large grassy space with a beautiful apple blossom tree in the middle and a couple of flower beds. I loved that garden and was sorry to leave but had found another job elsewhere and DS was about to start school.

I ramble...

expatinscotland · 09/02/2011 23:44

'There is a lot of cosmetic work that can be done with little cost or objection from the landlord and just makes your home your own.'

Tell us more! Ideas, please.

Cain · 10/02/2011 00:01

Oh I thought I did...

Painting walls or a wall that improves the look of the room, putting down rugs (I have a LOT of rugs)/laminate that can be taken with you, wooden cladding where it works/changing the blinds/curtains.

I have even laid bathroom floor lino tiles which warmed the room and were very cheap. Go at sale time and buy end of rolls.

The garden is a big thing for me, baskets, growbags, hanging baskets and all sorts of plants in pots that can be moved. A herb garden can be dug up as can peonies and various grasses.

Oh and the last place I rented did not have double glazing but B&Q sell a film which you stick around the window frames with double sided tape (supplied) and then warm with the hair dryer until it is taught like a drum skin. Its very effective but only if you dry the windows and frame completely first so put the heating on full blast for a couple of days.

Such things like that.