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.

Just a note – you don’t have to tell a LL you’re a recipient of benefits.

I rented somewhere out, and lots of people asked if it was ok when first getting in touch. But it’s not something you need to disclose.

That sounds awful! We have been so lucky with our landlords, they've been round about 3 times in the last 6 years, actually had a little look around only once, are quick to repair anything, allow us to redecorate (and are very happy about it, it was in need of redecorating), and do bigger diy jobs like skimming walls, sanding and varnishing the kitchen floor, laying carpets (we haven't actually done this one but if we did replace the stair carpet I can't see them being anything but grateful)

Our rent is less than the going rate in our area and has risen £100 in 6 years. We had 3 dogs when we moved in (2 have passed away so we're down to 1, and will get another when she passes)

They're awesome landlords, and we try to be awesome tenants in return, fixing what we can without bothering them, looking after the place and always paying on time.

Oh, you should have been my tenant. I had a cheap, gorgeous house, I fixed everything all the time and just wanted a nice reliable long term tenant.

You could have had kids or pets, or even decorate as you liked. I live overseas so would never have done spot checks. My approach was it's your home but my property and together we make it work for you.

Sadly my tenants were a string of awful chancers who wrecked my house and ripped me off. I ended up losing my house and don't have a place in my home country anymore.

I wish I'd found a tenant like you 15 years ago.

It's not a fair contract / negotiation because there is a very unequal balance of power. If the landlord decides to end the contract, then the tennant is forced to move house (with all the costs, and the stress of finding a new property) change the kid's schools etc, etc.

It's not fair that one person has the right to so completely control the lifestyle of another person just because the floor might get some scratches.

The tennant has no real choice, though. It is a nationwide issue, so they can't go elsewhere without moving to Germany. Once they are in, the tennant had no real power to re negotiate how they live, as the downside/ cost of "walking away" is so large.

The tenant can also end the contract and they only have to give one months notice meaning LL has to pay to resdvertise and do a whole bunch of credit checks on a new tenant. It cost me £700 if a tenant leaves to get my EA to advertise my property, show around prospective new tenants, do all credit checks, and to sort through the applications. That's on top of a deep clean cost. It works both ways, whereas LL's have to give 2 months notice. Also many LL's including myself give a 1 year fixed term contract so tenants have longer term security than 2 months, then I renew the contract at the end of each year. Hence I've got one tenant that has been with me for 8 years and 2 other tenants for 6 years each. The government were planning on taking away tenants 1 year security. My tenants tell me they prefer it.

And yet some posters are demanding all LL sell their homes. 🤷 Others say they fear their LZl selling their home. It's clear that LL can never do right by everyone.

Only 700? Do you have any idea how much it costs to move, especially if you don't happen to have a bunch of burly friends who can help you lift furniture?

You have to do background checks! Do you have any idea how much admin and disruption happens when you move house?

A whole year's security? Do you know how long the wait lists are at some schools?

You are really very clearly demonstrating how unbalanced the power balance is.

I know right. It costs way more than £700 to move house! That's before you get into the cost of two lots of rent, two lots of council tax (because there's always an overlap) and all the incidental costs that pile up - eg one place I lived didn't have a fridge, so I bought one. The next place the landlord provided one (yay) but refused to move it (boo), so I got fifty quid for it after entertaining a succession of chancers on facebook marketplace (while co ordinating a move that suited jobs, schools, packing up mine and my kids' entire lives, cleaning the entire house etc etc) ... two months in the fridge in the new place broke and the chancy fucker had the cheek to ask if I still had my old fridge. Yeah I wish pal. Fucking clown.

Because it's humiliating

I think the issue is a housing system gone wrong rather than individual landlords. You're right, there is a place for private landlords. The problem is, unlike when I was younger and rented, it's no longer primarily young less settled down people. It's also increasingly inaccessible to the lowest waged (and someone has to do those jobs so it's not an answer to tell everyone to get higher paid jobs). It suited me when I did it. As I got older, married and had kids, I needed something more settled. There's no guarantee of security with private renting. Like the OP says, tenants can never relax never knowing if and when they might have to move. Disruptive, stressful, and expensive.

It's also not the answer for the lowest waged or disabled people. Few private landlords accept benefits.

When I was young and renting, most people moved on when they got to a settled stage of life. Either they bought or for those who couldn't afford it there was social housing.

I agree the answer isn't to make all landlords sell up. What is needed though is more social housing.

In my area (Surrey) it's £800 for just a room in a house!!

OP, I agree with you that renting is rubbish. I rented for twenty years before I was thankfully able to buy a place. I would have bought much sooner, but my ability to save was reduced by the massive amount I was paying out in London rents. I had a mixture of landlords over that time, but even the ‘good’ landlords were still funding their pensions using money that I earned working, just because they were in a position to own more than one home. I would ever, ever become a landlord after my experience, even if I could afford to.

There needs to be massive rental reforms in this country including long term tenancies, rent control and, of course, wider provision of social housing. Living with a clock ticking that you could be evicted after a year, have to change your kids school, struggle to find another place within budget - it’s so stressful.

LL's rarely ask a good tenant to move out unless they need to sell up.

Or they want to massively raise the rent.

Know every landlord in the country do you?

Or can’t afford required repairs

Surely it depends on the landlord?

I used to live alone happily on NMW, with money left over for a life afterwards. I was in a rented property for 2 years... low rent that was dropped when I viewed the place. It was never increased and I never had an inspection. Lucky..... but I had a leaky bathroom roof, a boiler with constant low pressure, a damp problem that wrecked a lot of my belongings, and no heating in the main living area as there was an actual rusty hole in the radiator. I reported all of the above. Someone even came out to measure up the radiator, and said I needed a new one. It never happened.
Also, the landlord's son and a surveyor let themselves into my flat when I was home... no notice whatsoever.

I am shocked at the several PP saying the agents looked through cupboards, and even underwear drawers during inspections. I thought the point of inspections was to check there were no issues that had not been reported... not how you are living.

Absolutely - if more social housing was built, then rents would have to come down. There should also be a register of private landlords so you can check before you sign a lease. The register should be linked to homes fit for occupation and a type of 'MOT' should be issued.
There should be a limit on the number of houses a landlord can have so more first time buyers can get a chance to buy. No overseas registered landlords either.

Right to Buy was a criminal policy.

I haven't read the full thread but as a landlord, my mortgage insists on quarterly inspections to ensure there are no issues.

I would also like to add that these inspections do not always work in favour of landlords. Whilst I ensure for everything reported to be dealt with or replaced immediately (I hate inconveniencing my tenants who are paying good money to stay in the property) for example we recently redecorated the property, installed new radiators throughout only for the 3 month inspection to come back and say interiors we're 'fine'. When I queried that with the person inspecting, they said I shouldn't worry it was their opinion at the time 🤷🏼‍♀️

But it shouldn't have to depend on the landlord. Housing is a basic need.

@XenoBitch yes theoretically the inspections are to ensure that any problems are addressed in a timely manner.

However letting is a largely unregulated activity, and one that involves sometimes eye watering amounts of money. It therefore creates the opportunity for some twat in a shiny suit to completely overstep their remit safe in the knowledge that there is no comeback.

"Just buy a house"; Ha! Let them eat cake!

No. Just because you choose to make an investment should not give you such complete power over another person.

Of course a tennant should be held accountable for "trashing" a house. That's not the issue. The issue is the lack of stability and real estate agents going through underwear drawers.

FWIW, I own my own house, and I'm very glad of it. Outside of that, I would never choose to invest in domestic real estate.

I don't think it's a "first world problem " though. Housing is a basic need, and the stress of housing instability is vastly underestimated.

I've had it happen. A 19 year old with no experience of parenting scolding me over children's toys being out.

If someone is going to have that much power over me, I would like them to have a little training and experience!

And if there were fewer landlords, property would be more affordable, and people could buy their own house.