To think this is a bit CF?

[GlitterUnicornsAndAllThatJazz]

So we've rented a flat that comes with a storage room in the basement.

We're combining households so we have a lot of stuff that will need to be stored.

We went to check the store room and there's an absolutely massive chest of drawers in there.

I texted the landlord to ask if it belonged to previous tenant and she replied: "Hi the chest of drawers is actually ours, we really want to keep it and had a hard time getting it down into the basement. So we would really prefer to keep it down there. However if it's really going to be a problem we will collect it."

They own another flat in a different city where they currently live.

I can't help but think that if you're going to rent out a (pricey) flat with storage you should rent it out properly and deal with your own property? Now it puts me in the position of looking like a bit if a demanding bitch when I just want to use the full amount of space we're paying rent for. I mean they have their other flat they live in - wasnt it their responsibility to properly clear out the flat they wanted to rent out?

I'd ask them to remove it. It's their look out really as it isn't on the inventory, but your correspondence with them shows it is there and acknowledged by both parties. We bought a house that had loads of stuff we weren't expecting left in it. Luckily we were in a position to be able to use some of it and flog or give the rest to charity. But you can't do that as a tenant.

I'd go back and say you rented the place because it also came with the storeroom, you need full use of the space therefore could they arrange to have it moved.

People who are saying its no big deal to ask LL to move it... you are not negotiating with a LL from an equal footing. LL has the power here, and the guilt-tripping is bang out of order.

My landlord left a whole shed full of shit here, we literally couldn't fit anything in it. None was on the inventory so I took it all to the tip.
There was a washing machine, old lawnmowers, paint. Been 5 years now so I doubt they wanted it

Were you lead to believe that the storage room was empty, available for you to use and included in the rental price?

If so, I would say that the reason you choose the property and agreed with the rental price, was that included storage space. If the storage is no longer available you will be willing to accept in return a reduction in rent.

Not necessarily. Every time we need to get new tenants it costs us £2k. If we offered to move something and the tenants said that's what they wanted we would do it to keep happy tenants. Despite my 'dick' status on here we are very good LLs and bend over backwards to meet our tenants requests (we always allow pets, smokers, people to redecorate or choose the colours we paint etc) because we see it as providing a service and the power is with them if they choose to walk - there are lots of other properties round here to rent.

Tell them to move it. You're paying for the flat and the storage space.

You wouldn't accept her storing her pots and pans in the kitchen, would you?

The only dicks on here are those laying into MrsKoala. She is up front and sounds like she provides comprehensive inventories to her tenants. That’s fair.

MrsKoala's Christmas tree's the dick. 😂

If it’s not on the inventory you can honestly dispose of it, although I know you won’t. We left some furniture in our house (and a locked shed with things which is clearly not part of the tenancy) , agreeing with the tenants which pieces, but we don’t necessarily expect it to survive. Someone is living there.

So, it is not on the inventory so it, technically, does not exist.

BUT was it there when you viewed the property? If so then there may still be an issue, as the property would be 'let as seen', including it.

So, don't get rid of it, you now have a paper trail between you and the LL about it so that would cause complications when you move out, delaying your deposit return if nothing else.

But DO decide whether or not you can live happily with it in situ. You can use it, you cannot be held responsible for any damage done to it as there is nothing on the inventory to confirm its current condition.

If you don't want it there then just tell them. Once it is gone they would be daft to hold it against you, as it would have to be removed at some point... or they would have to change the AST to include partial use of the storage, reducing rent, presumably!

Had I done the inventory there would be a picture of it and a simple comment: LLs property, not included on inventory/not for use/similar note depending on what I had been told!

A chest of drawers is nothing. One hide we rented came with a shed. The LL refused to give us the key to the shed for 3 months and then kicked up a fuss when he had to clear some of his crap out. The letting agency was actually helpful for us, as they made a point that the property was advertised with shed access and we couldn't store a lawnmower anywhere so wouldn't be able to mow the garden if the shed wasn't made available.

He was a knob of a LL though. He hated when he had to come and fix the broke windows (the locking mechanisms were broken because his MIL had broken them years agohis dad told us thatand theyd finally given up) and was pissed off that we moved out rather than paying his rental hike (he said he would have kept it the same but he never got back to us when we took a chance at asking, so we decided on leaving instead). Thankfully we were in Scotland with a deposit scheme, so when he tried claiming everything he thought he could, the deposit scheme sided with us and gave us all but 5% of our deposit back. The things he could have claimed for and we wouldn't have argued he didn't even bother until afterwards when he randomly saw us in a car park.

If you say to her you are worried about it getting damaged, as you have a fair bit to store in there? I am sure she'd rather move it!

I get what people are saying about it “technically” not being on the inventory but TDS do try to apply a common sense approach and OP has aknowledged in writing that it’s there so she can hardly destroy it use the argument. I think it’s different for the poster who hasn’t broached the issue before destroying because she’ll
Just deny the belongings where ever there

I agree with the others who said just ask her to come collect it as it wasn’t agreed upfront.

You really don't have the right to

... complain if they are willing to move it at your request.

Wow all this angst over a chest of drawers the landlord has offered to move.

I'm not sure how some folks get through the day really.

Just send an email saying we need thr full space, sorry, and would hate to damage it, can you organise collection. No biggie. Then go and lie down someplace dark and think about not blowing stuff out of perspective.

Haha @bluntness.

Yes I agree. I think the landlord knows full well they don't have a leg to stand on, they are just trying to make you feel awkward.

In which case the best solution is - just don't be! Send a text like bluntness's above and keep it breezy breezy breezy.

Don't be shoehorned into a situation you resent.

If the LL had said it staying was a condition of the tenancy, would you have looked for another property to rent?

Cherry I thought that is what I outlined. Maybe I need to go on a Crystal Clear writing course

I asked my landlord to remove her stuff from the loft and the shed (neither mentioned on the inventory.) She never bothered.

I kept the conversation to the telephone so I can do what I like about it. Throw it away, Ebay it - nothing she can do as there's no written evidence of it existing.

So, when are you going to start throwing or Ebaying your LL's stuff JustGettingStarted?

Well if you excuse / ignore the tone, she’s said it’s hers and offered to move it. Not too cheeky I think.

Text back clearly saying please move it ASAP. It might all work out fine.

I'd ask him to remove it. We had a landlord like this. She kept stuff pretty much everywhere in the house and garage. She was constantly up to the property getting stuff from the garage then turned up one day to get something from the house when I told her it didn't suit. We had to leave and then the cheeky f deducted almost 1000 from our deposit saying we broke everything in the house.

I also don't get the angst - the LL has offered to move it if you need the space! Total non event.

I once rented a house with a garage that the landlord used to store his crap. He lived 5 houses away and said we wasn't to put anything in there or touch anything of his.
Right pain in the arse, but at least he was upfront about it not being storage for us. Though he did turn out to be a CF as we found out through neighbours and things being moved that he was coming into the house while we was at work.