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?

Op - you want to treat the place as if it is your home (as it is) and I have sympathy with that. All reasonable landlords would be fine with you decorating as long as you put it back to neutral when you Leave. Pets can cause damage and future tenants may have allergies but again most landlords would allow for a bigger deposit to repair the damage.

There are parts of the country you can buy houses and flats for a few thousand pounds. But it seems you don’t want to live there. You want to live somewhere you can’t afford to buy but only to rent. You want the benefits of the better area but can’t afford to own there.

But you seem to think you are somehow entitled to more than you can pay for. You want to decorate your sons room but not put it back to neutral as you would if you did own it and you were selling. You want to have a met but not be responsible for the damage it may cause. I

Many people on this thread want to have all of the good bits of home ownership and none of the bad. You want to live like a home owner you have to pay the maintenance and be responsible for boiler, insurance, etc.

I’ve been both a renter and a landlord and think there’s definitely a place for private rented accommodation. It does mean you can move to an area easily and quickly (with no requirement to be greatest in need as for council housing), there is no maintenance costs and you can leave without worrying about selling up, etc. The availability of private rented housing in good school catchments for example is much better than council housing.

Those who think they would like a European system with longer term rents tend to change their minds quickly when they realise that it doesn’t all just work in tenants favour. Eg tenants are bound in for long periods, have to buy and maintain fixtures and so on. I’m not necessarily opposed to that but we should be realistic that it doesn’t always work in tenants favour (nor should it, there should be a balance).

Ultimately private rented accommodation allows people who cannot afford to buy in an area and wouldn’t qualify for social housing there to live in a particular area. It’s a trade off as they have an insecure tenancy in return. But there are council and housing association housing in areas of the country that can’t be let and even gets demolished for that reason. And also very cheap housing to buy. So there is an alternative, just not one that suits op.

Op - if you can afford to buy in a cheaper area that’s what you need to do rather than bemoan renting in a more expensive area. Or else live with your choice and accept the limitations of renting.

I rented at a point in my life when I wanted to live in a particular area for work (but couldn’t afford to buy there). I rented another time because I wanted to live in an area for schools (but again couldn’t afford to buy. Now I bought my house as i would rather buy and live in a slightly worse area.

It’s not your landlords fault you can’t afford to buy in the exact area you want. That’s life.

Like someone else on here. I am a landlord too but had to move abroad so the house I rent out is my home and I rent abroad. So I did not buy to rent and I do not have a hoard of properties. Not all landlords are in the position you mention

I know it's late (HCP on call🙄😊)

But I think the day we stop viewing housing as money boxes, winners/losers, we can move on and grow up, as a society.

When did this happen?? So many of us had grandparents in either social or private rentals, and it appeared to work! Was it the % of income required? The security? Their expectation?

Or I could ask where having 60 days of security of tenure was considered acceptable?

I have already stated the private rental has its place. But not as an ever increasing 'only option' for so many non-social housing-qualifying people, renting private houses they could afford to pay the mortgage re-payments on. If the house hadn't already been snapped up by the equity holders.

This is fundamental. It's roofs over heads, not to be conflated with How Capitalism Works, I win/you lose.

I am disturbed by how many appear to feel a god-given right to benefit from second property ownership, as I see it, a roof over a head- as being different to your Rio Tinto shares.

disco while anyone's contribution is obviously both allowed and valid- this isn't what this thread is about, is it?

I owned a property abroad, came to the UK, rented that one out, that paid for my UK rental. Tho my overseas tenants had a way better security to remain(6 months) than I did in the UK (60 days...).

As with any potential tenant, my tenants wanted and needed a relatively short term rental (company paid). We weren't denying any first time buyer their first home (as, apart from anything, the way financing and cash worked there was different to here).

We ended up selling the house to our tenants!

This is about the thing in the UK, where people, having been no more clever than being cashed up at the right time, in the right place, plus background advantage, buying property that has subsequently massively accrued 'value', using that equity to buy up first-time buyer stock, to then rent it back to that potential first-time buyer market.

Thus denying those without wealthy parents; dead wealthy parents (me); or having been lucky when they bought- to rent forever, paying out our pensions.

And with SIXTY DAYS TENURE, to boot.

I'm a landlord
I've renovated & decorated my property
Cost of materials & labour
To decorate:
Remove furniture etc
Prepare flooring to avoid damage
Prepare walls eg holes
Clean walls
Sugar soap walls
Paint walls with appropriate type of paint
Take photos

I expect a little bit of wear & tear
It's not just a case of paint the walls !

If you hire a car, it's expected to be returned in the same condition
People are more emotional about property
I've rented & owned

I requested the letting agent to find long term tenants if possible
New tenants after a year
It works both ways....

I'm a landlord, my tenants have pets, redecorate, do as they please really. I tend to not even be asked anymore. And that's probably why my 3 tenants are long term, if they ever leave I expect to have to go in and plain it out again, get carpets cleaned etc. It's no biggy. Plus I don't earn money from the houses. They cover the mortgages which in term with ensure I can retire comfortably, I'm not looking for a wage off them. Find a new landlord

Current tenant has a dog

I agree with Soarin, if you don't like something find a way round it
Ask landlord
Try some other method of decoration
Move

When I rented, I was usually made very clear what the terms & conditions were eg price, term, bills, what could be done, damages etc before I signed & moved in !

Rent a room out in the property that you live in = OK
Rent out a property = not OK

Run a business = OK
Rent out a property = not OK

There are lots of reasons people rent out properties. And they dont want the extra bother of having to return their properties back to a rentable state even if they do have the deposit to cover it.

I have friends who have moved in with their partners and not been able to sell their old property and so rent it out instead. I dont have a problem with oaps using rents as their pensions - if they have spent a lifetime earning their money it's up to them what they do with it.

We had to move away for a year with my husband's job and rented out our house because we had to financially. We said no pets. When we came back it was in such a disgusting state I cried. As well as being filthy, there were black pet hairs in every room, under beds etc, in a thick layer. The deposit didnt cover half of it and we ended spending 4-5 days cleaning up someone else's filth. They had the audacity to later deny it and complain that we had kept the deposit. They threatened to take us to court until we told them we had videoed and taken photos of the whole house and never heard another peep out of them. If I ever had to do it again, I would ask for a massive deposit and would definitely not allow any changes to my property and definitely no pets.

Lots of people will say you are being unreasonable because that's just not how it works in this country.

However I think the level of renting in the UK is such now that we should at least partly move to a similar system to Continental Europe. There they have many long term leases where you can, within certain bounds I'm sure, change the fixtures and fittings of the property and have pets, etc as you will rent for a much longer term (years, decades, etc).

I'm a bit old fashioned, so be it. But, you seem to be a long way down the avenue of life before you've turned to the thing that for many people came first, and that is providing a home of your own for any children that may come along. I can see how paying rent and saving for a mortgage with the cost of children to pay for is nigh on impossible, but don't blame the person who has provided the roof under which you shelter, which presumably will be required after you have left, for another tenant. After all, your landlord didn't have any say in why you put the cart of life firmly in front of the horse.

OP I haven't read the thread so I apologise if this has already been said.

Your frustrations regarding the inability to personalise your home is a common complaint aired by renters, a blogger called grillo designs has started a series called #how I rent on IG and YouTube, comprises of different people sharing ideas of how to personalise your rented accommodation, with minimal impact upon your deposit.

I hope this information provides a more practical response to your post.

I would ask for a massive deposit

This approach has been legislated against.

@zsazsajuju I have clearly stated on this thread that I would be happy to put the decor back the way it was before leaving. Where did I say I wouldn’t? Where have I come across as entitled? I have never been late on a payment, kept the properties well maintained and always been respectful. How is wanting what I am paying for to feel like home “entitled”? What a horrible assumption to make based on nothing I have said.

@Nursebuttercup I appreciate that and will have a look, thank you

@Cabana again... horrible assumptions. I am not blaming my landlord for the fact I rent. I am saying that I pay a hell of a lot of money to live in the house and have been here years and would appreciate feeling like it’s my home while I am here. I would simply like to be able to breathe in the house without asking bloody permission

So LL refusing pets and own decorating comes down to them having been shafted by previous tenants when they allowed it or know someone who has.

Direct your frustration to the culpiyd, those tenants who have no respect at all for the property they live in, either because of poor standards or because they don't care brcausrcaftercall, it's not their place and they don't intend to stay there long.

I'm a landlord and I agree with you. I allow people to have pets and they can decorate how they want, put shelves up etc.

I also expect them to keep the garden nice and take care of things as if they were their own, as I think it cuts both ways.

I'm not making a mint though! It is my only pension.

You have my sympathies OP, as do all the other people trapped in the leeching BTL movement that's sweeping this country.

But, it's clear from forums like this and other forums, plus talking with friends, relatives and work colleagues who are trapped in this grotesque practice that changes will very soon come about. Everyone I know who rents absolutely despises doing so. With the collapse of government it's clear change is coming, personally I'd bump up the taxation on unearned income from the BTL market....talking 75% minimum taxation, this would make those using the BTL for secondary incomes completely unsustainable, whilst those who are simply holding onto second properties for their kids would have a serious dilemma, leave the property unoccupied and pay no taxation but risk vandalism or rent out and pay extortionate taxation. Either way it would hopefully put a lot of these properties back into the market.

Yep, truly despise the BTL market.
Change is definitely coming, its clear as day that the sheer revulsion out there towards the Renting market will force government to make multiple home ownership very expensive.....and so it should!!

I have paid a hell of a lot of money to live here.
Well, you've paid what is presumably the market rate to live in the nicer area you've (not unreasonably) chosen, to bring up your kids. You'd have had to pay out a hell of a lot more (as the landlord did) to buy.
You're also missing the point. It's not about whether YOU would return the property to its original condition. Your landlord has possibly had his/her fingers burnt in the past by "bad" tenants and you're feeling the consequences. But, as evidenced in this thread, there are many landlords who are willing for their tenants to do what you would like to be able to do, so you could look for a different one.

ContentedSoul, so to refer back to my point pages back (which no one has managed to address), how would my student DCs live whilst away at university, if the private rental market all but disappeared?

@contentedsoul BTL income will be taxed at 80% for higher earners from 2020 thus making it almost unsustainable for most people. It's the one thing George Osborne did that has dampened the market .