Landlord told us to take political poster down

[Thedriftofstars]

We live in a nice rented house. Been here for three years, no problems whatsoever. We both work full time, have two DC. Just your average family and have never caused any problems! We take most minor maintenance on ourselves as well. Have yearly inspections from the letting agents, however last week after the inspection the LA told me the LL wanted to come inspect the property for himself.
So when he came round, he explained he wasn't happy with the Labour Party poster we have displayed in our front room window. DH and myself are both active in our local Labour Party, and do a lot of leafleting, etc, so are known by the neighbours as the go to people for involvement with the party.
The landlord said he doesn't want his house being used to promote politics, particularly when it's not something he supports himself.
AIBU to think he has no right to tell us what we can and cannot display when we pay the rent? There is nothing in our tenancy agreement about it, and he is fine with us having photos, paintings and so on hanging on the walls, as well as letting us redecorate to our tastes!

@Mummyoflittledragon

I don't follow.

How does the decency of either / both parties have any bearing on the situation?

The username was Malcolm tucker.....

And even if they were serious, it still takes up to a year to evict.

@specialsubject

It takes a month assuming they have the decency to not become squatters and drag matters out.

The saddest thing of all I find is the no pets rule in British rentals. What fucking right should a landlord have to dictate whether you have a cat or not, as long as the house is returned in perfect condition at the end?

Worse than that is the 'no children' rule. I used to know somebody who was evicted for getting pregnant. The LL said they'd just got new carpets and so didn't want any children in the house. How this is even legal is beyond me.

Oh yes, the OP could drag things out and not just leave if he serves notice. Of course, having done that, no other decent private landlord would touch her with a barge pole, so if she's unlikely to get a council property or happy to go down the slum landlord route, then "average" tenants just start looking for a new property to rent as soon as they are served notice.

Fair enough his property and political posters are so vulgar...like vote for those morons if you must but why display it in a snug aren’t we special kinda way...

If some anti-Labour idiot chucked a brick through your window, who would you expect to cover the repair cost?

Yourselves or your landlord?

I expect that is where he is coming from.

It might be his 'house' but it's your 'home' at the moment.

Outrageous request.

On here Malcom. Pity we don’t have a cunt clause for ignoramuses.

What actual purpose do these posters serve anyway? The LL may be being a tad petty but it's no different than any other poster being stuck in a window. They look awful.

As you don't own the house then I think the owner has a fair point. Yes you pay the rent but it is his house and his rules, personally I think posters like this are really tacky and unnecessary.

@Chrys2017 just because something is in a tenancy agreement doesn’t make it enforceable! My advice stands.

If I saw this in a house, I would assume students lived there - who else puts a poster in the window?! Fair enough if it was a few weeks either side of an election but it's not.

Either the agent or a neighbour has said something, because otherwise the LL would not have come round.

I'd start looking around for other accommodation, I agree with PP that you are likely to be given notice shortly.

The pets thing is v valid indeed. I was a letting agent for a few years; the amount of problems we had with fleas, damage to the property, complaints from neighbours, the smell of cat pee... and in my case I am severely allergic to animal hair. It can take years to get rid of all the hairs. So if a tenant had a cat or a dog in my home, I wouldn't really be able to move back in with any degree of comfort for a long long time.

KennDodd It is not legal! I am certain that no court would uphold an eviction for a tenant just because they got pregnant and the LL was trying to exclude children from the premises - the human right to a family life etc - but of course you would have to go to court for protection and many people find that too expensive or scary. Plus you would need a reference afterwards etc . But this crazy competition for homes in the current market just gives some LLs the perfect excuse to exercise their inner bully and intimidate and control people.

but it is his house and his rules

It is NOT. Why do so many people not understand this?

Well we all know who your LL votes for. I wondered where all this Tory twits were hiding.
I've yet so see an I vote Conservative poster up, but. They're always getting voted in.

Rebeccaslicker if you have a genuine severe medical allergy and reasonable likelihood of occupying the rental property eg if it was your former home, then you may have a reasonable grounds for an objection to pets, but without a severe allergy and/ or it being purely an investment vehicle? Nope, no reasonable grounds... and just being a control freak.

At election times, political posters can make a difference. Not to committed supporters of one party or another, but to remind the 'weaker' supporters to vote, to make sure they remember they do need to fit in voting on X day, along with work and school run and popping to the shops and making dinner etc.

They also can help with floating voters, those terribly important people, who don't have a political party they always support. Lots of posters for one party might help sway them that lots of people 'like them' vote for X party. Or it might help encourage them to think "I wonder what X party would do if they won?" and read a bit. Or a detailed poster about particular issue/policy might help remind them about that one issue that will swing it.

(They can also have the down side of convincing people who are 'weak' supporters and super busy that it doesn't matter if they don't go out in the rain again to vote because "everyone" around here votes Labour/Tory/LibDem, so it won't make a difference if they don't make it).

Outside of election times, its more about the person wanting to declare who they support, not about influencing anyone else.

But she's not harming anyone, not damaging the property, and as long as it's not all that much of an eyesore, don't see the problem if she wants the world to know.

Hardly likely to have roaming hordes of Tories chucking bricks through the windows of Labour supporters, though is it?

I'd be far more concerned about damage to my property if they were displaying a poster supporting the Conservatives though...

Either way I don't care about your politics. I care about my investment and will take steps to prevent damage to my investment should the need arise. Lawfully.

It is NOT. Why do so many people not understand this

It is his house. Some of the rules will Be his. Be it pets, kids, smoking, painting, subletting, extending, knocking down walls, or replacing the kitchen. So the poster is not far off.

DH and myself are both active in our local Labour Party, and do a lot of leafleting, etc, so are known by the neighbours as the go to people for involvement with the party.

So you are quite involved? Perhaps your activities are disturbing your neighbourhood?

The landlord said he doesn't want his house being used to promote politics

Fair enough. Do the sensible thing and remove the poster.

The attitude towards people who rent on this thread (from some people at least) is hideous. Don't you think that if people had the option to own their 'own' home, they would?

Not really Kinka. It would mean no tenant with allergies could rent it afterwards either.

And there are much bigger issues. For example nearly every flat will have a prohibition on pets in the lease. So will some long leasehold houses. So if the tenant chooses to get a cat, that would put the landlord in breach of his long lease and at risk of forfeiture proceedings to terminate his lease or other court action that could cost a fortune.

And as I said, I saw a lot of terrible maintenance/pet ownership. One guy had a roof terrace and he just let his dog shit on it because he couldn't be bothered to walk it. The whole thing had to be redone because all the shit fell through the decking. Cost an absolute fortune; the tenant lost his job and went on benefits and never paid a penny. Another fucked off to Australia leaving behind a flea infestation from her 3 cats that again cost a fortune and eventually saw all the furniture and soft furnishings be destroyed. The deposit covered about 10% of that...

I think it's a situation where it's fine to be a control freak, to be honest. You don't know whether your tenant is responsible or not, so you minimise the risk.

Perhaps your activities are disturbing your neighbourhood?

Fuck's sake. What 'activities' are you thinking of?