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!

This is why it is so dangerous to have so many LLs in the way that we do now. It like some of these petty and controlling people think they have become King of their own little kingdom; they would be able to do NOTHING about these issues (pets, kids, posters etc) if it was about their neighbour. Because so many of the things they try to control are not even anti-social, never mind illegal.

But you give some people a little bit of power and this is what happens.... Fuck tenants, fuck human rights, fuck the law - it is my property I will do what I like.

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.

Absolutely right kinka. Eviction on the grounds of having pets against the terms of the contract would have to be on discretionary Section 8 grounds and apparently eviction in these cases is almost never granted .

Not sure how our 'activities', which mainly consist of replying to texts, and attending canvassing/leafleting organised meet ups with leaflets, is exactly disturbing the neighbours.
Someone over the street has a Vote Leave poster still up, sun faded and all, but as far as I know he owns his house so I'm guessing by the double standards on this thread that's ok then?

Perhaps your activities are disturbing your neighbourhood?

How exactly? And even if they were, it still is not he LL's concern.

*That could be inflammatory and I suspect your Landlord would rather not risk it

It isn't his risk to take, its OP's. It's not his concern,*

When the windows get smashed in, it's the LL who will have to pay for them. So, yes, it is his concern.

landlords are going to have a few steak shocks with UC payments coming in and 150% council tax payments in the pipeline

When the windows get smashed in, it's the LL who will have to pay for them. So, yes, it is his concern

Then it would be. Before that, no.

Or, catneuterer, the landlord simply refuses to renew at the end of the term and the tenant takes his unwanted pets and moves on!

If you'd had to deal with the mess that some people leave behind, you'd think v differently.

Rebecca yes absolutely the LL can choose not to renew the contract And I am a LL so I'm well aware of the damage tenants can do.

However having pets is not normally grounds for eviction regardless of what the contract says. (And as a LL who positively encourages pets I would say it's people that cause problems, not pets).

Keep the poster up and add some bunting, maybe a flag and a bowl of roses

Window dressing.

I wouldn't go down s8 with a cat, no. I would sue for damages if my head lease said no pets so I'd said no pets and the tenant breached it. Again a lot of the issues I dealt with were people taking cats and dogs into blocks of flats with communal hallways - you can't have a cat flap there of course so it caused no end of difficulties with dogs barking all day and cats shitting in the hallways and communal gardens or making the flats smell of pee. Tomcat spray takes a LOT of getting rid of!

It's always the owner and never the pet, but you can only try to minimise your risk. If I bought a buy to let house with a garden I would take a v different view to letting out my flat.

"down s8"? Are you in Sheffield rebecca?

Well, why did the LL want to inspect after the LA and only seem to mention the poster?

When our tenant neighbours have caused problems in the past, we have approached the LL and he has gone round and (for example) told tenants to bring their bins in , timely, and clear up spills.

If no other activity occurred, the poster may not even have been noticed. But it does sound like there are activities associated with this interest.

Anyway, as others have said, conservation areas have extra requirements, leasehold flats have extra requirements and so we have to accept we have to live like social creatures.

If I was asked to remove an offending or unnecessary declaration of an activity or interest I would certainly try and comply.

I am all for freedom of speech and democracy but if the house is not for your use as a business/billboard, then hire somewhere that is.

Sometimes we just want to switch off from the vagaries of politics and seeing a political poster whilst I'm out walking my dog, or going into my house next door, day in, day out, is just not desirable!

Do us all a favour and take it down, please.

Aren't political views protected under discrimination laws any more, in terms of supply of services?

IME lots of people have political posters up in their windows, some even have car stickers in their windows. It just depends how interested you are and how involved. It’s pretty normal.

As it’s not in your TA then he can’t tell you to take it down. Whether he gives you notice over it or not probaby depends upon how good you are as tenants otherwise, how strongly Tory he is, how easy it is likely to be for him to find new tenants.

SpB. Yes they are but many on this thread seem to think LL are above the law

Possibly worried about house value. Always think they look a bit scummy and he may be doesn't want his house to be seen in that light in case he wants to sell it in the future and people remember seeing it,

Ha, no - the section 8 route. I.e. Seeking possession under section 8 of the housing act 1988 on one of the grounds specified in schedule 2.

This thread as batshit. Did I wake up this morning in a Tory dystopia? Supporting Labour is controversial? If people damage your house because of a political poster the onus was on you to take it down?? Landlords have the right to silence the political expression of their tenants??? Just... WTF? I would say I can't believe what I'm reading but this is Britain in 2017 and is sadly all too believable.

counter I live in a normal terraced house, not a leasehold flat. I think I'll just keep my poster up now, to wind up people just like you
If the landlord wants to evict us when over the past few years we have been perfect tenants - keeping the house clean and tidy, doing maintenance work ourselves, only needing a professional to come out once in three years (boiler went on the blink), integrating into the local community - then he can crack on. There are far more houses than tenants round where we live and especially these kinds of houses stay on the rental market for weeks if not months, standing empty and gathering dust and damp, as older houses tend to do when empty. This house had been empty for almost a year when we moved in.

Drift - is it a leasehold house? Depending on where you are in the country and the age of it, it could well be.

OP I’m afraid you’re not allowed to be politically active if you rent. Them’s the rules, apparently

these kind of houses stay on the rental market for weeks if not months, standing empty...... The country has a housing crisis ? What housing crisis?

Where do you live, op, that integrating into the local community is a plus for your landlord?

It's always a plus for a LL if their tenants integrate into the community. Less likely to move on, more likely to take care of the property, less likely to get complaints about noise or anything else.

doesn't matter where you live.