to think it's perfectly normal that tenants would need to dry their clothes somehow, either indoors or outdoors?

[Owllady]

I have realised on 're reading my new lease that there is a clause that says I am not allowed to hang a line outside to dry my clothes. I am not allowed to use a clothes airer and drying clothes on the radiators is not permitted.
So
Without a tumble dryer, what are you supposed to do? No laundrette within 13 miles

Fwiw, I have put up a line anyway, years ago without complaint and I also use a clothes airer and I hang stuff to warm through on the radiators if necessary ffs

Ours says the same thing, I've ignored it and put up a washing line like all the neighbours. We're also not allowed to hang pictures, put up shelves, switch energy suppliers or get a water meter put in I hate renting!

My contract says loads if crap and about 98% is not law a court would laugh them out of the building.

Same as the must allow access with 24 hours notice.. Wrong

Must give 2 months notice.. Wrong

Even no pet clauses are against human rights or something according to Brussels contract must state that permission will not be withheld without good reason blah blah...

Just ignore and follow the only legal bits..

Rent due date
Rent amount
Deposit stuff
Acting in a tennant like way (report faults)

Some people really object to washing lines. There was a thread recently from someone who was deciding against renting a particular flat because the neighbours had washing lines.

I don't get the concept at all. I'm happy to abstain from hanging pictures or shelving, but protecting the delicate neighbours from the sight of a drying t-shirt is too big an ask for me! Especially as tumble dryers add to the electricity bill.

In our old flat we has a clause that said we weren't allowed to dry washing inside. We did anyway.

Our house is on farmland too and believe me, the carpets and decor in this place us far more offensive than my sainsburys granny knickers hanging in the line for all to see

I saw a beautiful hare on my walk :)

i'm

Dear god i think i'd lamp anyone who insisted i wasn't allowed to dry our clothes in the house! There's 5 adult size people (one who has a filthy day job) and a baby in this family. So 2 wash loads a day minimum - plus all the bedding etc,; it'd cost a fortune in electricity to run a dryer after every wash! Jesus. I'm not the bloody Aga Khan!

And not allowed a line up in the garden??

Pay a bloody fortune to rent a place and then not be allowed to live a normal life? ... bollocks to that

Our landlord + lady kindly provided the bloomin great supporting pole for our 20 meter out door line, were fine about DH doing a small cement footing for it into the lawn, and a year in have never quizzed us on our indoor clothes drying habits at all. Neither did our last land-lord, and we were his tenants for 5 years.

We back onto 30 unbroken miles of countryside here too OP. How daft to worry about the 'look' of a washing line. Personally i think a long line of good clean laundry flapping in the breeze is a lovely sight :)

Owllady, you brightened my day when you said you might leave the house with all your laundry pinned to you..I think you should go directly to letting agent and ask to peg a few socks and maybe a pair of knickers to him/ her for drying purposes..

That's just ridiculous.

Keep breaking the rules.

It feels sooo good!

I ignore most of the rules. As long as you leave it the way you got the property (which I always do) they will never know anyway?! Our old LL said we couldn't switch leccy suppliers (lol) we were with southern electric who are notoriously expensive, we switched to Npower within a few weeks. If i ever put pics up before i leave i refill the whole it's left, paint over, etc etc. Keep doing what you like!

How much washing do you do?

Would a clothes airer suffice for outdoors?

And indoors?

Surely with a window open it's OK?

Is the place tiny, is your washing still dripping wet when it comes out of the machine?

Otherwise what are they afraid of if you dry washing indoors?

I absolutely adore the idea of you walking round like a laundry version of batman. I think this is one of those backup clauses just in case something happens, like the no parts of this motorcycle are edible sign

Below is what Moneysavingexpert says about changing your gas and electric if you are renting:

(short answer - yes you can (probably)).

Q: I'm renting, can landlords dictate which electricity provider I use?
A: If you pay the gas and electricity bill directly (not via the landlord), you can and should compare and switch. Don't stick with the previous tenants' supplier as often it's costly. Always do a meter reading as soon as you move in.

You have a right to do this without your landlord's permission, though it is worth checking your tenancy agreement just in case it's a breach. If it is, communicate with the landlord - nothing changes for it if you switch, so it shouldn't be an issue.

Even if your tenancy agreement says you can't switch, challenge it. Preventing a tenant from changing energy suppliers may be viewed as an unfair term in a tenancy agreement, so talk to Citizens Advice to see if it can help. If you pay your landlord for energy, it's their choice.

I have the garden rule. Despite that I own the property, and it's my sodding garden I'm not allowed to have "clothing on view"

The deeds of my (owned with a mortgage) house forbid me from hanging washing in the front garden. This does not matter as the large side and rear gardens provide more than sufficient space.

I am also not supposed to have any livestock (pigs, goats etc) and not more than one cat/dog.

When we moved in we had four cats - the solicitor said he had never heard of a case where an owner had been in trouble for breaking this clause without the animals (usually dogs) being a specific nuisance, so we took a risk.

I'm sure there are one or two other bizarro clauses, probably down to the house originally being a tenanted council house.

Why do so many people think it's reasonable for them to forbid you from drying your own clothes in your own house? Outside clothes lines are only usable for half the year, if you're lucky enough to get dry weather occasionally. And it's your home. Of course you should be able to dry clothes in it!

Because drying them on the radiator will damage paint or paper behind it, and drying them indoors without opening windows will build up condensation.

Obviously, it should be perfectly clear to any sensible person how to avoid both of those issues, but I think that's what LL/LA tend to be worried about. It's easier to put in a clause and then point to it if damage is done.

I am guessing if you did no damage, they would not care, would they?

My rental contact says this too. However, when the LL showed me the house one of his biggest selling points was the fab ceiling clothes dryer in the kitchen. It's marvellous for drying clothes.

SociallyAcceptable - I think it's often reasonable to forbid tenants from drying clothes inside unless they purchase an adequate dehumidifier, because many properties don't have sufficient ventilation to prevent condensation from causing damp (especially as the weather that prevents people from drying clothes outside also deters them from opening windows). The clause will only become an issue for the tenant if they dry stuff inside without taking adequate precautions to prevent damp, so those who choose dry inside "illicitly" but don't cause any harm won't be affected.

I say this as a long-term tenant, not a landlord or homeowner. I bought a condensing dryer this year because I couldn't find any other way of drying the clothes without damaging the LL's property, and consider it fair enough.

However, I do think it would be nice if LLs were required to provide a functioning and energy-efficient tumble dryer if they do forbid drying clothes indoors, or a user-operated extractor fan in a room with adequate space for drying clothes if not. That's because it's often too expensive or otherwise impracticable for tenants to make these changes on their own, as they can't plan on being in a property for the long term.

You can change energy suppliers even if it's in the contact if you are renting if you are paying the bill. The estate agents know this but hope you don't. Talk to cab

I have the same rule about drying clothes outside. No lines, no clothes to be dried on the balcony. So we dry inside and hey presto, damp flat.

However, I have ignored the rules about plants on balcony or windowsill (apparently fireman find pots of basil an insurmountable obstacle when they need to break in) and the one that says my front door mat is a trip hazard. Oh, and I totally ignore the best rule of all, which is that cars are not to be parked in the car park. My place is bonkers.

In my contract for my house it says you are not allowed to go out while the washing machine is on!

Needless to say I ignore that one.

I used to live in an apartment overlooking the marina and we were not allowed to hang washing out on the balcony but all properties had a washer/dryer installed.

paragirl1981 - Is the doormat inside your flat or in the corridor? If inside then it's completely bizarre, if outside then I think you have to blame the silly and inconsiderate people who do manage to create trip hazards. One of our neighbours did put one out which was a hazard - it was really thick, really large, the same colour as the carpet, and curled up at the edges, so it was easy to fall over if you were carrying shopping and couldn't see the floor. I imagine it would have been quite dangerous to anybody who was blind or visually impaired.

The washing machine one seems fair enough to me as well - I never leave my washing machine, dishwasher, or dryer on when we're out as I'm worried about our pets being trapped if something catches fire. Living in flats, my main fear was of people falling asleep with cigarettes or leaving pans, appliances, and hair irons "on" and unattended.

I'm not normally a "mad tenancy rules" apologist, though. The only ones I'm in favour of are the ones which really do make a difference to safety, or which are there to protect the landlord from any damage to the property which is caused by people breaking them without taking reasonable precautions.

I'd ignore it, how will they ever know you'd dried washing inside. They can't just barge into your flat without your consent.

In my very first private rental about 14 years ago, we weren't allowed to shake rugs or carpets outside the doors or windows.
It was a relief tbh, I had been laying awake at night worrying about how I would fit in all the rug shaking around work and going to the pub.