I am a tenant, and a very stressed out one at the moment. It is a long story but I’ll try and be brief:

As soon as I moved in, others living in the house told me how unhelpful our landlord actually was. Bascially, all he cares about is getting his rent. If you want things done around the house, don’t hold your breath. He’ll make promises that he won’t keep.
Recently, we discovered some mice in the house. We started mopping the floors with bleach and cleaning all the surfaces before going to bed, ensuring that there was no food left out. But the mice kept coming. Then someone pointed out that there are holes leading from the outside into the house- directly. I thought this was a bit ridiculous as our landlord refurbished the house himself and did all the electric etc. by himself (not a very good job either). Anyway, I told him about these holes and the mice and he said to me “it’s not my problem”. He kept blaming us for the mice and refuses to close up the holes. If we get anyone else to do it, he said the tenants (WE) would have to pay for it. I told him that I called Health and Safety and asked whether this was the tennant’s responsibility and they said that it was the Landlords. Even after this, he refuses to fix it. When I got angry and said “This is the law though, I read it, I can show it to you” he said to me “Grow up!”

I’m beginning to have my doubts about this man. Earlier when I was about to sign my contract with him, I pointed an error (a typo) in one of the articles as it was incorrect and he said “nothing is incorrect with the contract.”

You must understand that I earn minimum wage and I cannot afford to lose my deposit over this and I had to sign as the place I was living in before was a lot worse. I don’t know who else to turn to or whether I have a good argument against my landlord.

I cannot stand the fact that I am paying him my hard-earned money and he is doing absolutely nothing in return, and on top of that he insults me.

I need some very good advice with a trustworthy phone number or contact.

Please help!

I personnaly think that tenants would be happier in the building and may even be prepared to pay more for a landlord that provides a good service. They can grow within the building provided, and you can help them develop.

I see property as being more of a product that you can sell to customers, and if the tenants are happier, they are more likely to stay.

Russ

If they act like children/animals they get the one servivce they rely on more than anything these days removed until the issue is sorted. Oh the power – I feel like a demi god when I do it! Apparently last time when I was really wound up – I thought I walked in in a manly fashion, explained the situation and removed the modem. What actually happened was (and this was MY critical appraisal afterwards) was I flounced in like a prima donna, handbagged the tenants, threw all my toys out of the pram and stropped off like a petulant chav!

24 hours later 2 of the tenants turned up at the letting agency heads bowed and close to tears whilst the agent and I harranged them mercilessly whilst trying not to laugh. Almost time to do it again so watch this space. Will try not to act like Paris Hilton next time!

At Xmas I usually drop off a bottle of wine.

@Dan: Yeah, I always keep my tenants informed by SMS when an issue is raised- I like them to know what the progress is!

Dan

* Provide them with a bottle of wine now and then or for those who do not drink some other treat.

* Allocate them 4 hours of my time free of charge to help hang mirrors/pictures etc (this way i have not got some pillock being let loose with a drill).

*If and when there is an issue I ensure it is actioned as soon as possible, keeping them updated on progress by text or email.

* I provide them with wireless broadband free of charge. This way if there is ever an issue with things such as the house being a tip, unclean or them being unreasonable with utilities useage I just go around and remove the modem and stop their service. Funnily enough they do seem to stop taking the piss after their lifeblood is removed. It’s like turning off the life support system!

Jools