To think that if you private rent your life should not be dictated to by the landlord whose mortgage you are paying

[Nursejackie1]

So many of us are stuck in private renting with no choice paying over the odds, while landlords are making a mint. Most landlords have all these rules that you can’t decorate without permission, can’t even put a wall hanging up without asking. Often can’t or need permission to have pets, have regular inspections. I pay loads for my home and due to that cannot save a deposit. My kids have never had their bedrooms decorated in the way I would like.. having to stick with plain magnolia. Why should somebody else decide whether my kids get to grow up with a family pet or not? AIBU to think that if you are paying somebodies mortgage for them then while you are in that house you should be able to treat it as your own within reason and not have your life dictated to and controlled by them?

HelenaDove
How right you are.

Keep them insecure, give them somebody to look down upon and we can carry on playing masters of the universe

Modus operandi of the powers that be I'm afraid.
Divide and conquer at its finest one of many practical illustration.

to take on clients that dont pay or damage tgeir equipment with their employment or business. Social housing should underpin the housing market. I also think it would be fantastic if social housing was available for the hard working low earners more so it could shed it's connotations of anti social tenants

The rhetoric is coming FROM the housing associations themselves.

Its called managed decline which then leads to social cleansing demolition and regeneration. A tenant leaves or dies and is then replaced with a druggie. Repeat ad infinitum. Make sure the estate gets a sink estate reputation. Then set the money making wheels into motion.

Agree with everything you’re saying Helena. The british attitude to home ownership is incredibly damaging

When I rented, I never spent a penny on improving someone else's property
Why would I ?
I cleaned each time before I moved out
I moved 10+ times before I bought

I rented a room in a house
Use of shared bathroom & kitchen. I made breakfast only & used washing machine. I ate at work
After a few weeks, landlady complained & said I made too much noise. I worked more than one job & was never there !
A friend offered me a room in her house
Landlady watched me clean the room. I said to her
You want the rent money, but you don't want people in your house !
I really hope her next tenant was loud & spent more time in the house annoying her !
Grrrrrr

YANBU

In other European countries you would have far more autonomy and stability.

UK landlords don't seem to realise it is your home.

his thread has made me so sad.
"So many people thinking that renting makes you an inferior human being with no rights and deserving of no respect - and that you rightly deserve to be treated with the utmost contempt.
The kind of contempt posters are showing on this thread."

The same climate that lead to Grenfell. These attitudes are ingrained and passed down from landlord/HA to contractor to sub contractor.

ssd

100% mortgages were only available to those with multiples that would buy a place.

Dp earned £2000 per year when we met.
I was earning £960 per year.

It was 2 x main income and 1x lower income so we could have had a 100% on a place that cost £4960. Problem was cheapest place was about £7-8000.

As much as you scoff at what people did do you need to get your head round that people did do that.

I grew up in a 2 bed 1 boxroom council semi (before it was declared a slum and cleared) with 4 families (4 couples and 2 children)

NDN had 3 families (3 couples and at least 6 children)

So sleeping on a sofa bed with 4 other people wasn’t such a hardship.

I would be really surprised any more than a few people really thought that renting made you inferior in any way.
Most people rent in the beginning at least. Others like me will mix renting with property ownership. Very few people will have no experience of renting.

@Nursejackie1 I totally understand were you are coming from, but you have to realise not everyone is going to paint a nice neutral colour!

My friend rented her home out for the first time and wanted her tenant to feel at home! She told her to paint how she liked but to put it back to magnolia before she moved out or she would lose deposit!! She painted the whole fecking house bright red and bright purple!! She left the house and didn't ask for deposit because she couldn't be bothered painting. I think it took 4 layers of primer and paint to cover in the end which then meant any future tenants could NOT paint the house...

The housing crisis/situation is as a divided opinion as much as brexit, it is basically homeowners/landlords vs renters, eventually the equality will come to blow one day, in an ideal world the state would provide affordable homes for people and there would be no private landlords making money off the less wealthy people in society, but house prices outstip inflation and wage growth on a yearly basis, since 2014 in my area house prices have been going up around 15% year on year.

Not all landlords are lovely, innocent folk who just so happen to have a second property they want to rent out. Some of them (maybe most of them tbh) make a business out of it. I had a landlord years ago who bought council houses (so you could say took them away from those most in need, thanks Thatcher!) and rented them out for twice the amount the council would charge. He made a successful business doing this. He didn’t decorate them and mine was actually quite a mess when I moved in but I was desperate at the time so took it and invested my own money into it. That money is effectively down the drain if you plan on moving out one day which I obviously did. Now thankfully own a property but it took me years to be in that sort of position.

You should be able to put your own stamp on it within reason imo. You’re paying for a service, you should be able to make it comfortable and homely. New tenants could always redecorate if it’s not to their taste.

I don't think tenants should be able to decorate. I used to think otherwise until we allowed a tenant to do this. She ended up "decorating" the house but used black gloss on walls and fixtures. Nailed staples etc. into every wooden surface. Spray painted the kitchen radiator and wall, light switches with silver spray paint. It took us a long time to correct. Would never allow it again.
I do think that when landlords have this policy it's often because they've had a bad experience with a former tenant.

Landlords don’t let people paint because it’s too risky.
Tenants won’t want to put it all back to white when they leave.
My friend has several buy to let properties.
Every one has been damaged or left a mess at some point. Including dodgy painting ( not allowed)

I didn't decorate or carpet my owned home for the first ten years as it was just too expensive. Owning a home is an absolute money pit and you have to pay for everything yourself. It's not as simple as buy a place and put your mark on it.

Oneping

YABU, their house their rules

But the point is that as so many people in this country have no choice but to rent it should be a decent way to live, the home you are paying for at that time should be your home.

A landlord should service and maintain the house:
Maintain or fix boiler
Maintain or fix windows and doors
Maintain/fix bathroom fixtures and fittings
Maintain/fix kitchen fixtures and fittings
Maintain external areas : paintwork, maintain or fix gutters, drains, fascias, windows and doors.

Here is a list of some of the stuff your landlord has to do as a property owner.

When you rent, you don't need to worry about half of this shit.
When you own, you do.
Part of the rest you pay pays for this service.

•	Clean drains
•	Clean guttering
•	Power wash the patio
•	Cut back hedges, trees and ivy etc…
•	Inspect brickwork for damage
•	Touch up outside paintwork
•	Check outside power sockets
•	Check outside tap
•	Check all windows are secure and leak free
•	Check all outside lighting
•	Ensure alarm system is working OK
•	Maintain garage doors
•	Touch up inside paintwork
•	Clean vents
•	Re-grout any tiles as necessary
•	Check flooring for loose boards, creaks etc…
•	Check roof for leaks
•	Check for animals/pests in loft space
•	Apply sealer/preservative to outside decking and furniture
•	Review insurance policies are accurate and up to date
•	Review household suppliers – are you on the best deal?
•	Fix any broken shelving, hinges, doors etc…. (DIY jobs)
•	Check for signs of damp
•	Check and mend any inside furniture
•	Test smoke detector
•	Test CO2 detector
•	Chimney sweep
•	Boiler check
•	Gas check
•	Check all locks 
•	Check freezer and fridge doors are sealed properly, and working OK
•	Check air con
•	Check all appliances for frayed cords, visible wires, broken plugs etc…
•	Replace bulbs / check lighting around the house
•	Repair any damaged wallpaper
•	Repair holes / cracks in walls
•	Bleed all radiators
•	Check all UPVC windows for condensation, cracks etc..

Op not all landlords are minted. I’m
An accidental landlord, had a flat which I couldn’t sell without losing a lot of money due to the recession (is got married and moved in with dh) I actually lose money every month on the flat because of tax, Maintenance, estate agents fees etc etc etc. Yes it may turn out to be a good long term investment but for now it’s making me poorer so it’s not as black and white as you think

You could always apply for social housing, but even there there are rules to follow.

Nothing wrong whatsoever in people renting out homes in a business capacity. Can anyone on here tell me what the alternative is? I rented privately for 10 years and was happy paying my £550 pm because it provided a roof over my head. Due to circumstances involving divorce I had nowhere to go and didn’t qualify for social housing. Please tell me what other options I would have had with absolutely no deposit and two DCs to look after. It was a life saver for me. I had two great landlords in that time. Obviously there will always be crappy landlords like there are crappy tenants. If the issue is lack of affordable housing, then place the blame at the feet of the government, not landlords who have seen an opportunity to provide a service in an area lacking.

There seems to be a feeling here that the UK is so bad with respect to renting and protecting tenants.
I'm a landlord in the UK and a renter in a European country - one that is big on social welfare etc. Tenants are way more protected in the UK than they are here. First off, the default is a 3 month deposit! Even worse, the money sits in the landlord's account, no protected deposit scheme. When the tenant leaves, the landlord goes through with a magnifying glass, makes deductions for every little thing. The tenant is responsible for redectorating and repolishing the floor. Not only that but it is common for tenants to be asked to leave 2 weeks before the end of the tenancy (at their expense) so landlord can do renvoations and repairs (often charging the tenant from the massive deposit that they can freely dip into). This is all perfectly legal and the bits that aren't (i.e. deductions which aren't tenants fault) require the tenant suing the landlord to get the money back. And many landlords will only do max 3 year contracts because after that tenants accrue rights. So you would need to move every 3 years with all the crazy costs involved. Landlords don't care if you paint here given that they have so much of your money that they know they can restore it all to how it was at your expense.
On the other hand, our tenants in the UK have their one month deposit protected in a scheme and i have no right to just dip into it for whatever i decide i want. And we pay to redecorate and renovate at our own expense (which seems obvious to me but clearly not).

In my European country (also big on social welfare) rental contracts are generally unlimited, and yes, deposits are usually for 2 or 3 months' rent, but it doesn't (or shouldn't) just go in the landlord's account - it needs to be put in a separate deposit account. And yes, it can take a while to get it back, but usually what happens when ridiculous demands are made is a process a bit like a salary negotiation - LL starts high, tenant responds (ideally with pics etc) saying what they think their maximum liability is, and they generally meet somewhere in the middle. And as for having to leave two weeks before the tenancy is up, never ever heard of that here. So that does rather surprise me, Capara.

Redecorating being the LL's expense in the UK is inextricably associated with the idea of renting as fundamentally temporary and as it being the LL's home. Where it's incumbent on the tenant to redecorate, it's not just a responsibility but also a right. What alarms me about the UK is the right of LLs to just waltz in pretty much whenever they feel like it (only slight exaggeration). 'Inspections' are unknown here, unless there's a really, really urgent reason. Also the ease with which a LL can evict a tenant. Where we are there are three sets of narrowly defined grounds for eviction (serious breach of contract after a shitload of warnings/non-payment of rent/LL needs the property, and has to properly prove this need), which don't always stand up in court, and notice is 3 months minimum.

Oh, and letting agencies aren't a thing here. Heard so many horror stories from the UK about those.

I'm a landlord with 1 house. I'm happy with tenants decorating (Although would like them to run it past me first) and pets. I haven't put the rent up in 4 years and have good tenants. However i will probably sell up soon due to the recent tax changes, which favour landlords who have multiple houses, rather than 'accidental' landlords like myself.

Myinneralto

I think that 2 week vacating apartment rule is probably unusual to this country judging by the number of foreigners - including fellow Europeans - who are caught unawares by it.