Rented properties rant!

[JD.Deedee]

You know when you're renting and you can't put another bathroom in, kitchen or reconstruct the whole garden when you don't owe your own house. We're like travellers and in the last couple of years that me and my OH have been together we have rented a couple of houses. I quite like my current house, there is enough space, the front room can be closed so the little one can play and not be left out of sight, enough space to put my washing away and so on.. In my last house I didn't really agree with the wooden look it had in the kitchen and bathroom any person with a bit of brain imo knows that wood tends to rot away when it comes in contact with water especially if it can not drain. So my last bathroom and kitchen were a nightmare! Honestly rotten bits everywhere because of leakage with the worst in the bathroom.

Now we moved and i'm just doing the dishes and I notice on the left side from the sink is the boiler and they have put a wooden bit underneath it to 'hide' the open bit BUT A LOT OF WATER is going behind it and inevitably making it skanky behind it sigh.. Plus in the garden they have put down fake grass.. Which is nice, my dog has a hard time trying to dig it up but after a good bit of rain and some sun I've notice it DOESN'T DRAIN! Shit man the water doesn't have no where to go so it just sits there in puddles and on the sides.. How stupid.. Luckily these two things are only minor but damn why do landlords not think before the rent their house out?? Can't wait until we finally one day will own our own and I can decorate and go shopping to buy bathroom and kitchen :/ Whose with me?

 

[ClimbingRose]

Haha totally with you on that one.. my house is literally falling apart, windows hanging off the hinges, botch job frankenstein style kitchen (use a bit of this, bit of that to make a unit attitude) Same attitude in the bathroom too. I could go on.. our landlord lives in france and even though the letting agent hassles them to fix stuff, they just refuse. So annoying, but have decided to wait till the baby is here, asess our finances, and then look to rent a slightly better place. Wish we could buy! Just need a deposit! XX

 

[Pin badge]

Our last rented place drove me potty too! The bathroom ceiling paint peeled because there was no extractor, the tap leaked through the ceiling below, the beautiful open fireplace couldn't be used because the chimney was collapsing on the roof and we ended up with tonnes of dust and bits of house brick falling down it every day! And it smelled damp in the cupboards lol!

I think the reason is landlords try to do a cheaper fix than an owner occupier would, I rent out my student flat but because it used to be my home I finished it to the best standard I could afford and my tenant is really happy (she's asked to buy it so must be lol!)

On the other hand we bought our house in December and are nowhere near sorted for babies arrival in May haha! There is a basement full of boxes, the bathroom is half ripped out, the nursery is full of junk still and the water tank in the loft recently burst sending water down the kitchen and utility room walls (the only decorated rooms of course!) It's all the same issues just we have to pay for them now! Xx

 

[ClimbingRose]

Pin Badge, that is the upside of renting, if you get a good landlord, they do maintain the property for you. Whereas when you own you have to pay yourself - upside is, you can do whatever you want and have some security that no-one will sell from under you etc. Our house was on the market for 2 years before we started renting it.. and I bet you anything if we put the effort in and improved it for ourselves, they would put it back up for sale in a flash. So I feel like I cant do anything
I've had some lovely landlords before though, but they always come with the more expensive properties, and in the long run I just cant keep up with the costs. Heyho... one day!!

 

[JD.Deedee]

Glad am not the only one! But yea Pinbadge, that's what I mean! At the end of the day it's your house so if you do your best and don't go too crazy so it's financially affordable it will help you in the long run! Happy tenant happy house owner! Seems like most landlords don't realise they own the house! Bad leakage like in my old house just makes the house rot away and by the time you want to sell up and get rid it will be worth naf all! Not to mention the horrid wasps in my friggin garden! I pray that they'll leave my non-green garden alone this time!!

 

[dollface79]

Currently my rented house has a hole in the roof, a huge hole in the kitchen ceiling, 2 out of 3 of the bathrooms are non usable, the front room windows are rotten, the back yard is full of junk from previous tenant, the windows are not sealed so wind blows through the house so it costs us £10 a day just for gas to warm the house... I could go on and on.

 

[ClimbingRose]

Dollface, your house sounds JUST like my house!! Are you in my house right now??!! Our sheds are full to the roof with rubbish and old beds from previous tenants, and our bedroom ceilings have mould along the edges by the roof where birds are living! Its gross! We have a 'shower room' downstairs that doesnt work, and also the sealing on the windows have gone so the wind blows right through. 3 windows actually didnt close, handles fallen off and broken hinges, I pestered them for 9 months to fix it, and they come and do it after we had all those storms. I was like 'bit late now... I've had all the rain and wind pooring in, and pulling the winodows wide open.' Grrrrr. I was so tempted to up and move this week, but I have decided to stay put till little one arrives, then we can assess our finances and see what we can afford. (OH is a student graduating in May, so hopefully he'll be able to get a job and support a better rent. FINGERS CROSSED!!!

 

[Daisy2011]

This picture is of a peice of paper that is stuck to my living room celing that appears in the inventory and were i to remove it ithe landlords agent would charge me for the entire celing to be repapered and painted.

This sums up how little respect and care agents have for the tennants.
Look at this every night and am reminded that I am just a cash cow and this is not my home.

x Daisy

 

[ClimbingRose]

Daisy that is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen! When I moved, there were sheds in the garden which we were told we could use and would be emptied before we moved in.. they never were, and infact alot of the crap (i.e broken oven, broken fridge, non working lawnmower) is on the inventory, and if we through it away we wont get our bond back. Where is the common sense!!!!!!!

 

[Pin badge]

We had a broken lawnmower and broken broad band router on our inventory too! The agents are crazy! Xx

 

[ClimbingRose]

It doesnt make any sense. It drives me crazy, what do they think you'll do, steal them? Do they think that getting rid of broken stuff will reduce the value of the house?! cant wait to have my own house
I know in theory houses are meant to be fixed by landlords, but in practice ive never really experienced that, so i might aswell be paying for it myself anyway