State of rented furnished house

[frustratedtenant]

We are renting a furnished house for a shortish period (not longer than 12-18 months, both our wishes). We came to see the house a month before moving in, it was full of furniture and belongings of owner (they were using it as a weekend home up to now). We were told all belongings would be cleared. One room was full of junk and old furniture when we viewed it, told that would be cleared.

This is not a cheap house, it is a very nice period house with several bedrooms. We are in ROI so housing market is insane and it is almost impossible to find anything so we are spending more than we want because being homeless is not fun. This was literally the only house we saw that even remotely worked (using savings, we hope to buy soon but not in a position to buy for a few months)

We moved in and there was a lot of rubbish in the house although superficially it looked ok. Kitchen cupboards were full of in addition to pots, pans, plates (standard for a furnished house but I have packed them away since we prefer using our own) numerous empty glass jars and bottles (at least 30), lots and lots of expired food, drink and medication. (all about 2 years out of date). Oven was filthy. some old furniture left in corner of (otherwise lovely) garden/.

One room has a few peices of random furniture that we can't use. (lonely drawer, round table - its a bedroom - numerous bedside cabinets) One bed has 2 mattresses on it, the top one the wrong size. Not comfy to sleep on!

There were several other issues such as problem with heating, etc. We called agent and someone was sent in to deal with that.

But when I asked about all the rubbish that I have had to deal with and the extra furniture, if they can take it away, he said they can't take any furniture away. There is not a lot of storage in the house so it means we need to use one of the living or bedrooms to store these things.

My dh doesn't think these things are worth making a fuss about but I am really annoyed.

Getting rubbish removed costs time and money.

In addition, the landlord has still not signed lease which means we can't get a resident parking permit. Just a symptom of what a lazy idiot he is.

AIBU to make a fuss about these things to agent?

I would be concerned that the lease hasn't been signed.
An inventory should have been done by an inventory clerk at the point you moved in with clear information on what has to stay/can be disposed of. Do you have an attic to put unwanted items in to. Make sure you take lots of photos if an inventory hasn't been done. I don't know what you local authorities system is, but we can have up to 10 items removed/disposed of by the local council for a small fee.Yes you need to have some urgent discussions with the agent!

I am not in the Uk. There was nothing about an inventory discussed. Also, our previous house was unfurnished so did not have to deal with this.

We took photos of any damages.

the agent said we can throw any rubbish out.

in ROI we pay for regular rubbish pick ups by weight.

We have asked for the lease to be signed, still waiting...

What's ROI ?

Republic of Ireland

If it has several bedrooms, can you do without one and put all the unwanted furnishings and rubbish (not perishable rubbish obviously) in there and shut the door on it?

No ideal I know, but if it’s not for long then it would be livable.

Sorry ignore me. Just read properly.

We need the bedrooms for our kids. We are already using one living room to store our possesions, no space for furniture.

Of course its an option to use more of our living space to store their rubbish, i would be happier doing that if we werent paying a kings ransom for the pleasure of renting their space

Don't get rid of anything yourself and if you persuade the agent to clear some get it in writing and take photos of what is removed.

We had a similar issue and the letting agent did send rubbish clearance people but the arsehole landlord tried to charge us for things not on the inventory when we moved out.

www.justlanded.com/english/Ireland/Ireland-Guide/Housing-Rentals/To-do-an-inventory

Your problem, I’m assuming, is that with the housing market being so fierce, even though morally and possibly legally you should be able to insist on the house being delivered in good condition without all the junk you were told when viewing would be removed, the reality is you may not be able to. So you have to make some decisions about how to get the best out of the next 18 months.

How easily can a landlord come after you for damages or loss once you leave?

Could you do an inventory, only include the stuff you want to keep. Send it to the Landlord/agent and see if you can get them to agree to it. Then get rid of anything not on it? Or get a cheap shed for the garden that you just stake into the ground and put everything in that on top a sheet of tarpaulin?

I guess what you can get away with will depend on the law in ROI and how that’s followed in practice.

Thank you @LovedFedAndNoonesDead 😊