To think being a tenant is an absolute misery

[nellyelloe]

For reasons I won't go into, we have found ourselves having to rent for 18 months after selling our house. Luckily we are now buying again so this won't be forever.

It has been the most eye opening 18 months of my life, and I feel SO sorry for people that are stuck renting. It has a genuine negative impact on my mental health. The constant reminders that it's not your home, never feeling relaxed as you're terrified of damaging something, the constant rent increases, the inspections. It's a total misery.

Now I do understand there are some awful tenants about who destroy houses, but that's not us. We haven't even put a single picture on the wall, pay our rent early every month and keep the house beautifully.

We have to suffer inspections every 3 months as per the contract. Now I know the landlord has the right to see how the house is being kept but it feels like an absolute invasion of our privacy every time, to have some 19 year old from the estate agents come round and take photos of the house and how we live. Every inspection fills me with weeks of dread even though I know the house is spotless and exactly as we moved into it. I stupidly didn't even think about it but we got our daughter a hamster and during the last inspection were really told off for it and told they would need to seek the landlord's permission as we had broken the no pets rule. After being a home owner for 20 years, it stupidly didn't cross my mind. Luckily we got the landlord's permission and a clause in the contract to keep Nibbles 🙄 I was made to feel like an absolute criminal for it, like I was storing a body in the loft. It is awful that people are made to feel like this over a pet, something that brings families and children so much joy.

The hinge fell off the integral dishwasher as it was old and dodgy. The 19 year old estate agent came round again to see if it was our fault or if it was due to reasonable wear and tear.....it was reasonable wear and tear as the dishwasher is 10 years old but again, made to feel like some careless idiot for a faulty hinge.

We have an app where we go on and pay the (£1700😬) rent and it has a lovely countdown on it saying when our contract ends...it's really unnerving seeing it and knowing they could kick us out at this point and we would have no right to stay, even if our house purchase doesn't complete in time.
Every 6 months, the rent has gone up £100. We are totally overpaying compared to other properties but again, we can like it or lump it. We are paying £300 more a month than we did 18 months ago. Our salaries have not increased. The mortgage on our house we are buying will be half our rent.

Renting is a constant reminder that it's not your home, that you need permission to breathe and you have people round to check up on you like a child has their parent check their room is tidy.

I honestly find it hellish. The housing system in this country is fucked. The renters reform act is now abandoned. I'm so glad I will be out of this soon but genuinely so sad for others who are in it for the long haul.

The rules on landlords need to be much tougher!
None of this no children, no pets, no benefits, no pictures on the walls rules.
Standard Tenancy terms should be much longer term years not months.
If you only want short term tenants it must be advised as such.
Inspections should be no more than annual and only for maintenance purposes. No photos of tenants or their possessions.
Housing associations should be the norm and not individual landlords. Even if owned by individuals they should be managed on a professional manner not on the whims of the landlord.

Being a tenant was the worst time of my life.
First one blocked me in and pinned me up against the wall because I was 24hrs late paying the rent - due to being in an RTA and in hospital. Second I was harassed stalked and intimidated by landlord and his wife. Landlords wife ended up in prison as she viciously assaulted the next tenant they had and was done for GBH. Third was a dick who kicked me out because I couldn't afford a 50% rent increase yet refused to do anything about the state of the house I was in. I still rent now but from family and this is my home.

I've been a Landlady for 20 years.
The appalling audacity of the tenants, the constant anxiety as for what's gonna get destroyed, what bills they gonna run up, what's going on in my properties...
The inspections are an absolute necessity, but
you are right, it's hell.
At least I don't have to work.

Yeah. I really don't think I'd have anxiety or depression if I either a. Owned my home or b. Had a council house.

I've never been late for a rent payment in 10 years but knowing that landlord can give me 30 days notice at anytime has caused me to feel insecure all that time

I'm determined to buy a house this year

@TheCadoganArms and I do kind of understand the inspections , although my agent never calls it that- just says can I pop round at your convenience just to check all is going well for you - because at one point we lived next door to a house that had indeed been used for a cannabis factory and this was a big modern 3 storey 4 bed semi - not some run down flea pit. You could have knocked me down with a feather, although I did find it odd that we never saw the neighbours!!

When I private rented I didn't know that my landlord was friendly with one of the neighbours. Didn't matter what I did the landlord found out

Barbecues, kids parties etc..

Getting messages from the landlord that the grass was too long or the hedge needed trimming 🙄 because that neighbour was complaining, I moved.

I think the LL has every right to stipulate conditions of contract. If they don't want DC or pets they have the right to stipulate this. The tenant has the right not to rent from them if they don't like the terms on offer. The contract is an agreement of terms. Most LL's do accept DC and pictures on walls. Some pets destroy properties so I can well understand some LL's not wanting pets in their properties. I've allowed 2 tenants 1 small dog but not from the outset. Only once I know they are keeping the house nice do I agree. I do agree with tenants with cats because I like cats. If someone works but gets a UC top up I accept them as tenants. I don't accept tenants who do not work at all as they don't pass finance checks.

I do agree with tenants with cats because I like cats

🙄

I am grateful every day that I don't have a landlord anymore.

Tbh @caringcarer you would disagree because you're a landlord! My point is you shouldn't be allowed to be! It should be run professionally by large housing associations.
Ultimately it comes down to greed sadly! Having a safe secure place to live at an affordable price should be a basic right not something for the privileged to gain inflated profits from.

I also wish there were more housing accommodation houses. I find it really hard when I put a house on to the market. The EA gets their details and often there are 25 or so candidates wanting the house within 3 or 4 days of it going on the market. Because my houses are mostly 3 bedrooms candidates usually have a couple of kids. I look at their applications and honestly out of every 25 applications 20 seem absolutely fine to me. I would happily rent to any of them. I have to only pick one though. Then EA rings others and tells them they are unsuccessful. I've even had a couple of times tenants going back to EA offering more rent or several months of rent upfront. Very often they tell EA they have a DC in a local school so need to get the house as they don't want to have to move their DC to a different school. I hate having to say no to them. I get angry the council should be buying more houses and refurbishing them for families not leaving it to private LL's to do their job.

Yes I had this experience too when we had to move out temporarily. It really opened my eyes to how horrible it is. The no pictures rule, the inspections, the lag to get anything fixed.
Landlord turning up at the door unannounced... our agent was really lovely though thankfully.
Oh and the shockingly high rents.

Yes it's totally screwed.

@caringcarer I would like to see a system whereby homeowners could either rent long term or sell their houses to effectively the government/ housing association wherever. Either at or just below market rate, guaranteed quick sale no hassle. The housing stock then could be put on long term leases to those who need them. Or could be sold through a rent to buy scheme. It would also give variety and choice to the housing stock rather than 'council estates'.

I'd like to see this type of rental become the norm. With no attachment that currently exists in living in a council house!

Private rental for those who want more luxurious accommodation or more choice could then be in addition to the standard housing association rents.

I've just had a quick look on Rightmove. Where many of my houses are there are currently 132 houses up for sale under £250k. Absolutely housing associations should be buying some of these up but they don't. The other area I have btl houses there are in fact 234 3 bedroom currently houses up for sale on Rightmove for up to £150k. Nobody or nothing is stopping councils or HA from buying these houses. Yet you think they would buy my houses 🤷. Can you explain why they would buy my houses but not other houses on the market for the same prices I bought mine for? I'm not stopping anyone from buying a house in these areas. What I am doing is housing families who maybe can't afford a deposit or don't have the salary multipliers needed to buy. The rents I charge do make me a small profit but they are not much higher than local rent allowances. They are bought interest only and I'm making a slow but steady capital gain over time.

@carerlookingtochangejob, btw I've had some tenants in some of my houses for 8 years others for 6 years. Some DC were born there. I've had others who were in a 2 bedroom but wanted to move into a 3 bedroom and wanted to wait until I had one come free. They could have moved to another LL but chose not to. I've not sold any of my houses so I've never served a section 21.

HOW is that your response to the post you quoted 🙈

Totally agree. Hideous. Two hideous experiences that have left me without a home and now facing eviction and vulnerable kids and an abusive LL in both cases who has refused repairs and this one is now evicting me due to wood burner being faulty.. it's obscene and the rent here is nearly £5k a month. The mental strain of it is beyond me and I cannot cope with the pain of not being able to provide stability in a situation which is not certain and I still do not have school places or a full time job.

We private rent and will never be in a position to buy. Our house is one of the cheapest around (LL owns a few on the street) and it's gone up £50 in the last 2 years. It's not the newest house but we are allowed to paint / decorate as we please (as long as nothing crazy) and things get fixed asap as needed

I truly sympathise with your housing situation, genuinely, but anxiety and depression doesn't care if you're rich or poor, it can affect anyone.

The only thing I hate is that they could just tell us they are selling and we have to find somewhere else 😩

The usual MN hyperbole. They are not judging your lifestyle, they are merely checking that you are keeping the property - which does not belong to you - in good condition. What on earth does the amount of "life experience" the person doing the inspection has have to do with anything???

Would you prefer that there were no landlords and everyone was living on the streets?

Written by someone with 19 years of three monthly inspections behind them.

This was a response to a previous poster's comments not the one above.

I rented for 19 years dealing with an agency (the landlords lived in another town). I found nothing "dire" about it. When there was a problem I contacted them and it was sorted asap. They did 3 monthly inspections, and were literally there for under five minutes each time. They are being paid to do a job, it's hardly in their best interests not to do a good job.

Have had some awful landlords over the years, all in different ways

• First LL - moved in and the kitchen was all dirty, everything needed scrubbing. LL in person when we mentioned it, with a straight face – yes, they won’t be getting their deposit back. (No effort or cost contributed on his part to clean it up 🤦🏻‍♀️) Same landlord suggested wooden mouse traps to handle the vermin issue a few months later.
• Landlady who let herself into my flat to fill her mop bucket for the landing. She’d assumed I’d be out. Same landlady would send angry messages on the morning my rent was due if it wasn’t in yet. Quote: “Why are you like this?”.
• Same landlady and husband: Went off on holiday the week I moved in. Discovered there were mice, one of the windows of my ground floor flat didn’t shut properly and there was an issue with the heating (I had to use the two ring oven to keep warm on my first night). They didn’t answer for two weeks, I guess because they were ‘off work’.
• Another landlord put a locked box over the thermostat one day while we were out so we could not adjust the heating. House was old, and freezing. Turned out the old pipes were all blocked too. (He was an ’artist’ with no other income, so I suppose the idea had been to receive money rather than spend it. Costly repairs were not what he’d had in mind at all, so he simply ignored it). We put an nhs stick on thermometer on the wall flagging unhealthily low temperatures (eg - “at this temperature your risk of heart attack increases”). He removed it, again while we were out. It got to the point he was letting himself in frequently, without notice. One day was at home ill and not at work and he turned up unannounced and tried to let himself in. On this occasion I did not answer door (the security chain was on) and he got a power tool and removed the door handle and let himself in. Rang several of us on various occasions ranting and suggesting he might make us leave if we weren’t careful. (We realised over time he was insane, paranoid, and aggressive.) Also removed some of our belongings from the house (musical equipment) and refused to return them.

I could go on. There have been a couple of good ones, but really, it’s like the wild west.

They get away with it because people are afraid of being made homeless.

What is wrong with you? The LL owns the house, why shouldn't they have the power to make choices about what the tenant is allowed to do. Do you really think a tenant should be allowed to do whatever they like with someone else's house??? Would you really buy a property then tell a tenant they can do whatever they want with it, treat it however they wish - why not let them trash it?

If people are so against renting then they should find a way to buy their own house.

Also for all you people who think LL = bad, tenant = good, my landlord also owns another property in town, which the tenant absolutely trashed. My poor landlord is still upset about it over a year later.

So a 19 year old doesn't have enough "life experience" to be able to know if a handle was destroyed on a dishwasher? Do you refuse to deal with anyone in a workplace who is 19 because they don't have enough "life experience"?

I couldn't care less if the person taking photos of my home is 19, or 99 - what difference does it make?

This is typical MN - people thinking they are entitled to "rights", to live in someone else's property and the owner should just hand it over and leave them to it, never ask them to leave, jump to it when something needs fixing but if the tenant breaks/damages something apparently that's just fine.

And yes, I rent.

has been the most eye opening 18 months of my life, and I feel SO sorry for people that are stuck renting. It has a genuine negative impact on my mental health. The constant reminders that it's not your home, never feeling relaxed

You're right OP (and I'm glad for you that you no longer have to privately rent). The housing system is definitely fucked, and I agree with another poster who mentioned private renting's relevance to the increase in people suffering poor mental (and physical) health. Social housing is different as the secure tenure makes all the difference.

I was on another thread earlier about temporary accommodation for homeless women. Dire. Very unsafe conditions with violence and sexual assaults from other residents. Many of those women are homeless because they fled DV, which often leaves them penniless and unable to rent privately (few landlords accept benefits). It made me think of the posters who jump on women here when they post for help on DV. I've seen vulnerable women criticised for not LTB and insisting anything is safer when that's not always the case. I can imagine the inability to feel safe and settled in a home of their own must be especially difficult for these women.

With the GE coming up, housing especially the need for more social housing, should be one of the main issues focused on imo.