I’ve rented all of my adult life and I’m now not far from 40.
Every property I’ve ever rented has been treated with care and respect and rent always paid.
Every landlord was great at the beginning...I stress at the beginning because it rarely stayed that way.
There was the landlord who would drop round unannounced and at odd times to check on his house. Same landlord asked me to be in on a certain day to allow for a property valuation as he was remortgaging. I took the day off work and stayed home with my baby and who turned up but an estate agent and a family of four to have a look around! I wasn’t even aware it was up for sale, nor had I been asked to accommodate any viewings. When I expressed my severe dissatisfaction to the letting agent the landlord decided to again visit without notice to be threatening and aggressive and shout at me about it.
Then there was the landlord who stole 2 months of rent, I had been there 3 and a half years and despite being provided with unequivocal proof of payment he insisted it had never been received. I had to agree to give him an extra months rent just so I wouldn’t get a negative reference for the next property I was hoping to move to. He also kept all of my deposit! It wasn’t agency handled and the landlord was such an arse and as I was busy also relocating my business to new premises I didn’t fight it.
Then there was the landlord who had a house in some serious need of updating. We wrote into the contract that the rent would be slightly reduced if I undertook the work, included in the contract was paint colours and all sorts of details we had meticulously gone over. 4 months in the work was completed, landlord inspected said it was lovely and was pleased with the work. Come the renewal period of the tenancy which we decided not to extend as it turned out the property had a serious damp problem that the landlord would not sort out. Landlord decided they wanted all of the deposit back as they didn’t like how it was decorated despite it having been agreed and in the contract and despite inspecting it afterwards with no issues. I fought that one but still didn’t win all of my deposit back and had to agree to a split!!
Then there was the landlord who was entering into an IVA and informed me that due to this could not accept the final 2 months rent (house was being repossessed) was sorry that I would have to move but to please take the 2 months rent as compensation and use it to move elsewhere. I was sympathetic and agreed to move and do what I could to make things simple and easy etc. When it came time to refund the deposit it was again withheld because I didn’t pay this 2 months rent. Didn’t win that one either and ended up having to agree to a split.
The landlord who did every check under the sun on me and dp and 2 and half months after moving in we were evicted by her mortgage company because she hadn’t been paying it. I lost all of that deposit and a months rent as the rent had been paid literally the day before the eviction. I was pregnant at the time and was given a hour to get out! I had to live in a hotel (at my own cost) for almost a month. I took that one up with solicitors who said the expense of claiming wouldn’t be worth it as I would have to take the letting agent to court who would then in turn take the landlord to court and it was best just to move on. That was 3.5K down the drain right there and that’s not including the hotel and cost of moving out my furniture paying storage and then moving to a new place.
All of these houses were nice houses detached 3/4 beds in nice areas. I never would have anticipated such problems from any one of them. I know better now and anticipate any kind of problem no matter how posh the property/landlord might seem.
Due to some of the above landlords I have negative things on my credit report which makes moving all the more tricky even though I can afford to do so. It’s annoying to have never left a property in any other state than how I found it and to have always paid my rent and to still struggle.
Being a landlord doesn’t make you any better or worse than any other person regardless of whether that person claims full benefits or not. I am also absolutely sick of being looked down the nose at by letting agents, landlords and only knows who else because I’m not in the homeowners club, this is despite being a smart professional, run my own business, wife and mother. God knows how anyone else in less fortunate circumstances must feel.
It is a sad and frankly rediculous state of affairs we have gotten into in this country. Reading this thread has made me so sad, so many ignorant people, so many people quick to blame those who are struggling financially, I hate hearing all this it’s their own fault garb. It’s just sad especially having been at the mercy of actually being evicted due to no fault of my own, no one with the means or a bloody choice would sit in a property waiting to be evicted.
Sorry that was so long, but I felt I had to make a point benefits or not it’s not always the tennant at fault. The situation is such that people are so easily trapped in the system. The housing situation “crisis” will become very much worse before it ever gets any better. We are all too busy and preoccupied with Brexit anyway. sigh