tenant asking for burglar alarm to be installed!

[Frecklesandspecs]

They have been in our house for about 6 months with no problems with security ect but suddenly got a call asking if we would have a burglar alarm installed so they can feel happier about going on holiday!
Is this a valid reason for us to fork our a few hundred quid ?
(have no idea how much it will cost in reality but it can't be cheap)

Do they have laws controlling the purchase of property as well? I don't think anyone is arguing that there don't need to be minimum safety standards for properties (and there are lots in place already), but rather that the answer to the housing crisis isn't controlling the purchase of properties, but building more new properties and more social housing. And not selling off all the social housing in the past.

We owned a former council property (our first home, only one we could afford). The original owner lived in it for the exact minimum he needed to, then sold it on at a 500% profit. We also made a profit when we sold it fifteen years later, but we did sell it to a social housing foundation at significantly under the market value, so I feel like we at least made an effort to be socially responsible.

So from my post about the precarity of privately renting, you get most upset about a typo?

It's nice to know where people's priorities lie.

Well the thing about controlling the purchase of property was just silly. Not selling off social housing was key.

If it was a typo then I am relieved. Mostly people are simply wrong, in which case I do think it's useful to correct them, if perhaps not very polite.

Special subject, I haven't read the responses since yours as it pissdd me off so much. I said I started getting the landlord to fix these things once I was pregnant. The dog was not put above any kids. We made sure that was all sorted before she was born. And as the heating didn't work there was no gas being used in the property anyway!

Kittens , she was talking to me about a dog because I chose to be a responsible pet owner and not got rid of my dog because it was convenient and lived in a shit house.

Once DD came along we forced him to fix everything and he kicked us out. We now own a home. It's very hard to get on the property ladder now and I can't imagine it will get easier. The deposit you have to put down is huge and the average first time buyer is 37!

Kittens, I don't think your views sound very rational.

Have you ever wondered why you have had to move 15 times in 13 years? Why have the house shares fallen through? Has it been someone else's fault every single time?

To be honest, if your contempt for landlords shows to the extent that you have displayed on here, I am not surprised if landlords don't want to renew your lease. I wouldn't.

I have always paid my rent on time - rent comes first before anything else.

My last move was due to the breakdown of a relationship.

The time before that was because of seriously substandard acommodation - it was a recently converted basement flat and they hadn't done the plumbing/drainage properly so if you flushed the toilet while the washing machine was on raw sewage would come up through the front door and soak the carpets.

The time before that was the incident with the leak and mould that I wrote about earlier in the thread.

The time before that was a houseshare - we got evicted because one of the tenants racked up thousands in rent arrears even though the rest of us were up to date.

The time before that I'd had to stay at my mum's for one year because I had struggled to find anywhere to live and needed to save a bit of money, but I had to move out when my sister came back from working abroad because the house became overcrowded.

One place served me with an eviction notice rather than replace the boiler after it was condemned by the council.

This is just the past 6 years. Should I go on?

This is the reality for somebody like me who is on a low wage. It's incredibly depressing. All I want is somewhere I can feel safe and secure and call home. I'm not sure what you mean by asking if it's my fault all the time. Yes I have moved out of some places because I wasn't happy there and not because of dodgy landlords. But this has generally been because the place is not fit for purpose.

Are you surprised I have contempt for landlords? Somebody who decides to buy a property in order to let it to tenants is only doing so for their own good, in order to make a profit. How is this not selfish? Just look at what HaveToWearHeels said earlier:

DH loves the whole process of BTL's. Finding the right property, doing the sums. Buying the property getting it all decorated and up together for the rental market and then managing it. It is worth doing and is our nest egg.

It's just a hobby and a nice little earner for people like her husband. That is all it's about, making money - off the backs of other people.

Whatever the explanation, your fault, landlords fault, moving 15 times in 13 years sounds to me like the result of some bad judgements - either about the properties you've chosen to live in (money aside, it was still your choice to live in them) or the people you chose to live with.

It is also someone's perfectly reasonable choice to put their hard earned cash into investing in property. Just because you don't like it doesn't make it wrong or unfair. Good luck to them.

Presumably the real question about the alarm is will it increase the value of your property or investment? If you are renting out a 2 bedroom house for £450 a month then an alarm is not really something anyone would expect. If you are renting out a 5 bedroom house for £7,500 a month then the tenant would expect an alarm and its service charges to be covered by the rent. Maybe they've there's been a crime wave in the area since they moved in.

Ha, ok then. The precarity of my situation is all due to bad judgements - you just keep on telling yourself that, if it makes you feel better.

You seem adamant that it's all my fault. You haven't commented on the examples I gave to you.

I won't be returning to this thread - I don't know why I even bothered in the first place. You all seem to be lacking some basic compassion/empathy. Well, you're the ones who have to live with yourselves.

Bambi, you still sound like you're blaming kittens. It does sound like a hell of a lot of moves but in my experience renting I really can believe it. I just put up with my landlords issues in the past. I think because I was young and not as strong minded. I wouldn't have done this with DD. Kittens is obviously strong enough to not put up with these unnecessary issues.

Kittens, I think you're being overly harsh on heels. She sounds like a good landlord from what she has written. She obviously has to make money from it and even better that it's something they enjoy too.

I lived in 10 different properties between leaving home to go to university and buying when I was 30 - I don't think it's that unusual though I did live in 4 different cities in that time. Most of the landlords were fine and I usually moved for personal reasons.

Kittens thank you for quoting me and then forming your own opinions, to quote you "It's just a hobby and a nice little earner for people like her husband. That is all it's about, making money - off the backs of other people."
Nowhere in my post did I say it was a "hobby" or a "nice little earner", it is my husbands business, just like if he was a mechanic (who makes money off the backs of poor unfortunate people who can't afford new cars), a vet (who makes money off poor unfortunate people who's pets become ill). We are lucky if we break even every year. Every thing is declared and we pay tax on any profit we do make.
Unfortunately for you, you live in a capitalist state, if you want to live in a socialist state (good luck with that one) go find one.

Well said

Oops ......

Well said HavetoWearHeels