Candles in rented property?

[RobinsAreTerritorialFuckers]

Our landlady came round the other day for our first routine inspection (we've been there six months). She seemed very happy with everything and I think we are very tidy and careful. One thing was a bit odd - she saw we had candles and told us she hoped they were decorative, and could we not burn them because candle smoke would mean that she'd have to redecorate in a few years.

I do know that candle smoke does eventually have an effect, though I think cheap tealights are the worst for it and we don't have those. But I'd assumed it would be part of wear and tear - just like anything else you might choose to do. Obviously, the tenancy agreement doesn't make any mention of candles!

What I'm wondering is: if you're a landlord, is this something you would genuinely feel worried about, and/or feel it was reasonable to ask tenants not to do?

Surely sooty deposits would only be a problem if your candle is too close to a wall or something anyway? In which case it's a fire hazard?

How strange she is. She must have been really grasping at straws to find that to complain about.

On the plus side, you're clearly model tenants!

I'm just about to ditch the letting agent I used for 6 months (thought it would be less stressful during pregnancy/newborn days) because of the twatty rules they've tried to give my tenants.

My new tenant burst into tears last week when I told her I was getting rid of them and I said that she could repaint the bedroom walls for her wee boys room. I'm hoping she'll be there for a good number of years so she needs to make it her home, because that's what it is.

I wouldn't ban tenants from having candles because I have candles. I also think the more you let tenants use the house as their home the better they treat it (and the longer they stay). Banning everything and having a gazillion rules just pisses people off in my experience.

to the person whose tenancy agreement says you can't change gas/electric suppliers; unless the landlord pays those bills, you can ignore that. It is illegal.

Ofgem say so:
www.goenergyshopping.co.uk/en-gb/tenants

I once viewed a house for a year's tenancy where the landlord had stipulated we couldn't take any pictures down and he would do the gardening!

So funny!

Thanks, special

I've had the one about not changing suppliers before, which I did ignore but it was raised as an issue against me when the cow kept my deposit.

A friend of mine was told they weren't allowed to dry any laundry indoors as it would cause damp

I have no candles in my tenancy, we also have no sky tv and no rodents to be kept as pets i think because it comes with plenty of its own

June well, actually, it does - or at least it will exacerbate an existing damp problem. PigletJohn, renowned expert of the Property board, describes it as akin to pouring pints of water onto your walls.

Everyone does it, of course, and it's another example of an unenforceable clause.

To the poster who asked why people sign up to those ridiculous contracts - because I need somewhere to live. The house I'm currently in, we viewed 19 properties and missed out on 18 of them. And this isn't London or a particularly big city.

I was 17 when I moved out and in my first flat the seedy landlord would knock really quietly and then just let himself in. I was in the bath once and he had let himself in. My Dad happened to be in the flat at the time putting my new cabinet together and I just heard him roar at the LL! Needless to say I was living back at home within the week

Pearlman and what do I do when the landlord goes "oh, okay then, don't sign. Please leave."? It's a nice idea but renting in this country is precarious enough, without renters putting themselves in a more difficult position. Change needs to come from the government, not renters.

Pearlman it's a nice idea but market forces are on the side of the landlord. There's a shortage of housing and many people can't afford to buy. It only takes one tenant to accept the LL's terms and the unionisation becomes void. I'm afraid it'll take legislation.

But where do all the people go when they're told to sign or sod off?

I think the only 'do not' in the tenancy agreement for my tenants, is no smart meters, as I think they will be a complete waste of time, and I don't want one there when I move back.

I've never had a tenancy agreement that says no candles. How bizarre.

There IS legislation. Use it.

And yes , as I always say, don't rent a dump from a crook.

Wow, lots of replies.

I know 'no candles' would be a rather daft clause (and, as I said, it's not a clause we have - it was just the LL's comment).

What I'm wondering is whether LLs really have an issue here, and the response seems to be that very few would. For what it's worth, I think our candles aren't very smoky, and I've repainted walls in previous places and noticed smoke damage (in that case, from a very dodgy heater, so not our fault!).

I agree with others saying to pearl that it's not practical to expect tenants to avoid LL who put unenforceable clauses in the agreement. I've pointed out to agents that certain clauses aren't enforceable in the past, but it's never fun and you only do it if you can risk not getting that property/being asked to leave when time's up.

I don't think it would ever work.

What might work, would be educating people about their rights as tenants, rather than trying to get people not to sign contracts. When I was 22 I rented a room in a shared house where the LL's mother (elderly, and, we later realised, in the early stages of dementia) insisted on coming round every few days, letting herself in, moving things in the kitchen, and throwing away anything she deemed unnecessary. Her 'rules' included no shampoo bottles on the edges of the bath tub, and nothing left out on the counter tops. She also assigned us each our own shelf in the kitchen cupboard.

Predictably, I went apeshit, but all the other tenants in the house were shocked and told me she was entitled to do whatever she liked in her own house. They really didn't believe they had any rights at all.

The no Sky TV could be a deeds thing if its in the leasehold. We lived in flats which had a blanket ban on Sky/Satellite dishes. So may not be due to the landlord. Could have cable.

We've had the no candle rule, except for birthday cake or religious reasons. Rationale was fire hazard. And given that the block had burned a number of houses burn due to candles (per fire department) over the past 15 yrs ... No candles it is. Not worth the risk.