Would you rent a smoker's house?

[toodarnhilly]

We're looking for a home to rent as our house purchase seems about to fall through and we need to vacate the current home.

Seen one today which is ideal except for one thing-it smells pretty strongly of cigarette smoke. Landlord ( who currently lives there and is buying elsewhere) said it was smoky as he'd lit a log fire

We have two young children so I don't want them exposed to tar and nicotine, but we need to move fast to keep our chain and be in before schools deadlines. (One will start primary next year)

What would you do? We can ask for carpets cleaned, but can we ask for new curtains, and repaint? I haven't rented for years so unsure what is accepted. Thanks for any thoughts/advice.

Go around again and look behind a few pictures to get an idea how smoky it is - the areas where the pictures/mirrors will be lighter. If the LL agrees to carpet cleaning and curtain laundering (which to be honest, would be fairly normal when one takes over a tenancy), then I would go ahead if the walls aren't completely yellow from nicotine stains. Unless the house is a bit tatty, I think it is unlikely that the landlord will redecorate. As you will be bringing your own furniture and if the carpets and curtains are all professionally cleaned, I wouldn't have thought that smoke smell will linger for very long unless he was a heavy smoker who only smoked indoors.

Thanks lala, it didn't seem too yellowy but I didn't think to check pictures. I was thinking we could ask for a proper clean and if it's bad in six months (and we don't want to move) we could ask him if we can repaint it ourselves, with his consent on colours. Or just repaint same colours. Would a landlord accept that?

Nope - almost impossible to get rid of smell - and never do viewings with a cold either!

It is completely normal for a property to be professionally cleaned before a tenancy starts but that should be specified to guarantee it happens (of course, you then have to have it professionally cleaned, carpets/curtains etc done when you leave). Regarding redecoration, I guess it depends how well it has been decorated in the first place - if the finish is generally good, then I'm not sure I'd want someone I didn't know slapping paint all over it unless I was pretty sure that they would do a nice job. But then again, I wouldn't rent out a house smelling of smoke in the first place.

No, I wouldn't. I also don't think redecorating would get rid of of the smell either, so I would totally avoid. I wouldn't even buy a house that had been smoked in, it's just one of those smells I can't stand.

How long will you live there for? Not long if you're buying. I'd live there. Air it out. It's fine and will not smell or be dangerous.

Some friends of ours bought a house from a smoker and they had to rip up all the carpets, repaint everywhere and I could still smell it when I visited for several months. It gets into the very fabric of the building so I would personally avoid renting a house like this if I possibly could.

We could be there a year but up to two, long story but basically if his sale falls through we need to be in a long term let so our schools applications won't get scuppered. And if we can find a place that would do us for two years it might work out well because of other factors that mean we might be in a better position to buy then.
Hmm my fear is that it will remain even with a deep.clean. kitchen had lino floors so that can't be steamed like a carpet can, bit will still be porous and smelly.

Damn damn damn house hunting is crappy.

I have just got our 'work car' back to for a while. The lads that had been using it have obviously been smoking in it.

It smelt really bad for a week and now it is going slowly. Lots of febreeze and a plug in air freshener has helped plus airing whe possible.

Also might it make our furniture etc smell if near the smokey walls.and built in storage etc?

it's not dangerous but it is revolting and will really get to you if you aren't smokers. If there has been a lot of smoking indoors, the only way to get rid of the stink is to wash all fabrics and redecorate. The latter involves a big messy wash down first.

the occasional lit dog-turd indoors can be cleared with lots of airing and washing. But it sounds more than this.

extra stink from plug ins and spray on stink will do nothing.

and yes, anything soft you take in will also smell.

log fires with swept chimneys don't make places smell. BTW there must be a CO detector if there is a fire.

your call - but be realistic.

and this, boys, girls and whiney landlord-haters, is why most landlords will only rent to non-smokers, because a smoker makes a property very difficult to re-rent without a major, major blitz.

I moved into a house that absolutely reeked of smoke. It took decorating andreplacing every carpet before the smell went and even then you could still smell it in the upstairs bedroom when the radiator came on.

I wouldn't. If it's really bad then the smell will quickly seep into everything you take into the house. My MIL's house is like this and we all reek after being there, even though she doesn't smoke in the house while we're there. You could end up with children who stink of stale nicotine and not even realise as you'll have become used to it.

I wouldn't.