If you Google the phrase “the reality of being a tenant” the first result is an article asking “Is Becoming a Landlord More Trouble Than It Is Worth?” while the third is titled “Reasons Why I Hate My Tenant”. If ever there was a good start for this blog it would be these results.
I’ve been renting for seven years now. Today’s blog is going to focus on the most recent three years of renting in Leeds, through agencies, and give an account of how I have found the situation. Why? For every ten articles I see online of tenants from hell I see none from a tenant’s perspective. Yet if I bring up renting in conversation everyone I meet possesses horror stories, bad experiences or rip off tales. I want to share my experience of agency renting to add some depth to the topic.
Finding a Property
Largely my experience finding a property has always been a solid one. The letting agencies are geared up to make sure none of their properties sit empty. Friendly and proactive staff meet you, keen for you to sign on the dotted line as soon as possible.
As soon as money is handed over any faults you flagged upon viewing the property are promptly ignored. In my new flat the dishwasher door is broken. We were assured this would be fixed upon us moving in. In a shock to nobody it has not. The issue has been known for over three months but I’m sure their assurance they’ll look into it is different this time…
Moving into the Property
With the same agency in Leeds I vacated one property in a complex for another. This should be simple right? Leaving our old property my housemate and I spent two days cleaning and scrubbing the place top to bottom. In the end we were charged one hundred and seventy pounds. Why? For a deep clean due to a smudge mark on the oven. Apparently any oven issue automatically means a deep clean, which they carried out before telling and promptly billing us. For context the oven had been cleaned with oven cleaner.
Meanwhile the new property had a series of issues. A broken freezer door, broken fridge shelves and a broken toilet flush. Carpets with heavy stains, broken lamps, a glass table with no glass in it and an ironing board with no cover. My housemate at the time flagged the broken freezer door verbally at check in. “Holla at me if you need that fixing,” came the response. Na mate, perfectly happy not having a working freezer door for the rest of our tenancy.
While charged a fortune for an oven deep clean my new oven set on fire. Yeh that’s right. On fire. Same agency, same complex. I remarked on being charged for an oven smudge while the oven in my new property caught fire. This was immediately dismissed. “I appreciate the issues that you have come across since moving into your new property, however, the check out needs to be looked at separately to your new property.” Not a fair comparison? Alrighty then.
So What is Being a Tenant Like?
I do want to state that this blog is a reflection on agencies more so than private landlords. At uni my mate’s mum was our landlord being both lovely and reasonable. What this blog reflects is what happens when the rental market moves away from face to face professional dealings. Behind agencies, contracts and bureaucracy a system has evolved with a large power imbalance.
In the end, maybe stupidly, we accepted the cleaning charges as we desperately need the deposit back financially. Similarly having vacated her property three months ago my girlfriend is still chasing her deposit back. The law states ten days. Yet ignored calls, emails and rules sit perfectly fine in the industry.
Sure you’ll have you tenants from hell, an argument that they ruin it for the rest of us. But beyond that is the silent majority. All we want is a place to live. Yet here we are frustrated at the inconsistency, dishonesty and bureaucracy that blocks us from doing so.
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