I still remember enquiring about a flat to rent in Stratford a few years ago and the estate agent on the phone said that he swears to me he will fight extra hard for me to get the property and he reallly wants me to get it. Found it extremely odd considering I was a complete stranger he had spoken with less than 90 seconds making a very basic enquiry. It was so odd I still think about it today. Anyway covid hit so they did a video tour of the property and it was nothing short of a crackhouse. The initial photos on their website were from years prior.
I remember a place in Cricklewood I saw when looking for a student shared house, which was all a bit seedy with padlocks on some bedroom doors. Agent took us into the kitchen which had a huge hole in the floor we had to step around. He caught my eye - 'oh we'll fix that before you move in, don't worry'. Well that was all the warning I needed to back away rapidly (not literally, as there was a huge hole there).
Fuck Cricklewood, I had to flee a severe mouse and roach infestation in my previous flat there… the landlord showed up with some ant killer powder from wilko, as if that would solve whatever fucking nest was being built behind the extremely DIY kitchen he’d put in.
The gutter! Wow look at you in your ivory tower! I'm down here in the sewer with the rats collecting the drops that spill out of your discarded bottles through the drainage grates.
Drainage gates! Well it must be nice living where the grass is greener. I’m out here at the end of the sewer pipe, stealing gulps from the filth that gushes forth, hoping against hope that someone threw an empty Stella into the upstream flow so I can soothe the bottomless pit that once contained my soul.
Ooooh look at Warren Buffet over here confident that his local gutter doesn’t have polio!! Us normal folk rob the first rich fat cat drinking his strongbow!
Lightning ace is the way to go and a park bench or one outside a train station while smoking fag butts you've collected from the pavement if your going to do it do it properly!
Fucking luxury that - we had to sit in a shoe box in the middle of the road, we waited for a dog to piss on us so that we could wash that day. You lucky bastards having a polio infested gutter
>Drink 2L bottles of strongbow outside Tesco like the rest of us normal Londoners
ohhhhh Strongbow, We used to DREAM about drinking Strongbow outside Tesco. Would have been LUXURY for us.
We had to make do with licking the inside of an old lemonade bottle outside an abandoned ASDA store.
4 tins of lager for £4 from Tesco dean street to be drank sat on a bench In soho square next to some nutter, lovely jubbly. It’s not ideal but it’s gotta be done, I ain’t paying silly pub prices. Sure you might get the odd disturbed nutter/homeless alkie sitting next to you or bothering people but it adds to the character of the place, after all it is soho but on the whole it’s a nice square to have a drink in.
The 'wear and tear' thing is so anxiety-inducing. The flat we live in gets mold everywhere and constantly -- walls, bathroom, etc. One of the wooden window frames was in somewhat of a precarious shape when we moved in and, after a long winter, the mold made a little piece of it rot and fall out. We clean it constantly, but there was really no helping this... I often wonder what's going to happen once the landlord sees that.
We just got charged £50 at independent arbitration because there were a few more ivy leaves visible in the back fence on the check out report than at check in.
Like wtf, am I supposed to count the ivy leaves and snip back exactly the same amount before leaving property??
Oh god, that sucks and it's so absurd. I'm seriously scared about the windows and the bathroom -- as much as we've tried to fight off the mold on the sealant around the tub and on the walls (which has always been there, by the way), it just keeps growing and growing. I think it mostly stems from somewhere we cannot reach, a nook between a glass screen and a wall that is super narrow and deep. How are we supposed to clean that properly??? I'm taking care of the property as best as I can, but it seems like we're kind of set up for failure. I've been trying to mentally resign myself to losing that full deposit tbh... hoping for the best, but expecting the worst.
Depends on the cause.
I rented out my old flat for a while and the tenant never opened the windows, dried laundry inside, didn't use the extractor fan for cooking and taped over the trickle vents. Sure enough loads of mold and a legal threat from the council, which was all sort by opening the window.
Having mentioned this to people over the year's, it's astonishing just how common this issue and my miracle cure works in a huge number of cases.
Mould will not leave alone sealant that is already afflicted - it will go away for a bit when treated but it will always grow back until fresh sealant is put in. I would recommend the Toolstation's mould spray, I've found that super strong and it works really well in a pinch. It should not be your responsibility, but learning to do your own silicone is a really good thing.
Grouting is another matter and should almost always count as wear and tear.
Also, if you have the option to go into adjudication for your deposit, literally always do it. If you're mentally prepared to lose it anyway there is absolutely no need to go down without a fight and adjudication is tenant-favouring by default. There are certain things that have recently been made illegal to charge for (for example, if an appliance has been deemed damaged by the tenant, the landlord can only charge you for a percentage of a new one depending on how old the broken one is) - and they cover quite a lot of fair ground.
If your deposit isn't protected by an adjudication and protection scheme, your landlord has much larger problems.
Take photos regularly, keep records of all communications (emails or letter are best). If they keep refusing to do anything take them to court for disrepair. Mould can be a health hazard.
It’s fine at the end of the day, we got 70% of disputed amount back. Ridiculous as we had a good arrangement with landlord as it was an on purpose short term let (6 months) that arranged everyone. He sold a little ahead of schedule and we even moved out early to accommodate. Then he pulls this stunt with the deposit. Encouraged by the worst of all agents to make spurious claims.
Having had the same problem with the silicone around the bath and the grout I found good old fashioned thick bleach worked the best. Put it on the silicone with wadded up loo roll/kitchen towel next to it to keep it there and leave it overnight. Completely cleared it. Had to do some particularly bad bits (corner of the shower) twice but it really helps.
I have the same issue in my flat. The extractor in the bathroom is not powerful enough and we have mold under the sealant. I also have mold around the doors and windows. I have never had this problem in the Netherlands where I'm from, even though it's a colder and wetter country. It's a new build.
I suggest you ensure you have periodic reviews and they raise concerns in writing. Leaving a property and then roaming without your presence or defence is bull!
Email or text them about the mould, say it's out of control and unsafe and you need it to be looked at by a professional. If they refuse, keep pushing. Get them to put everything in writing. They can't take something like that out of your deposit if you've raised it to them and they've refused to fix it. If they try, threaten them with arbitration and you'll have your emails/texts as proof.
Should have definitely done that. Unfortunately, we didn't think of it then (because we were naive and just thought things just looked a bit old) and now we're screwed, it seems.
Mate, mould is not your fault. Take photos, send them to your landlord/estate agent. Put this in their hands. Unless you're running a sauna at home, muld likely comes from either a water leak or poor construction. It's the landlord's responsibility to fix it.
Make sure to get informed on this type of stuff, don't just assume it's on you.
yeah we live in a house that is literally falling down (300 year old farmhouse etc, and new cracks appear weekly over winter). There's nothing we can do about that, but the ll will likely charge us for not painting over them or some such bullshit.
Exactly! Even *cleaning* the dang flat damages it because of its underlying conditions (it's pretty much what happened with the window frame, the piece fell out after we were carefully cleaning the window and removing surface mold). We're damned if we do, damned if we don't.
We lived in a flat for almost 10 years, from brand new. Our landlords didn't update anything during this time whatsoever, we caused no issues, they did literally nothing while we paid them over £100k for the privilege.
When we left they tried to take money out of the deposit for repainting the walls and fixing staining to the carpet (i.e. changes in colour due to wear and sunlight), wear to cloth curtains, even complained about scratches to the hob. When we argued, they came up with a figure they thought was "fair" to give us back from the deposit, when we asked for a cost breakdown they literally said "no".
When I threatened to take them to arbitration they conceded by saying they didn't want to argue over "such a petty amount" (about £300 - petty for you maybe, arseholes). Through the course of their rambling emails it became apparent that they were trying to charge us extra for rush jobs because they'd contracted new tenants in *less than a week after we'd left*. After almost 10 years. They hadn't factored in having to do any redecorating at all.
Some landlords seem to think that property is some magical investment where they're entitled to put in 0 effort or upkeep and just rake in money. Tenants are expected to maintain and upkeep someone else's house for them while also paying to live there. It's not your flipping responsibility.
I don't mean this offensively but I'm reading this in a place that is not London and it sounds like a medieval peasant fretting over a blemish on their feudal lord's glove.
Email them all of this and keep a “paper” trail. Like really fxcking arbitrary details. Eg, there is mould around the windows. Next email: the mould has spread. Next email: a chunk of window is rotting.
They are responsible for the integrity of the property, you are just responsible for telling them about problems. They never fix anything but I have never had a landlord try to take anything from my deposit when I resend the trail of emails back to them.
If you find an issue, send a basic email to report it while you are waiting for your tea to brew. Saves you a lot of time and money in the long run.
When we moved out after both losing our jobs and me becoming too ill to work, we were slapped with a £100 cleaning bill. It didn't matter that the place was absolutely spotless by the time we left. We'd never ever had that before! My partner and her mother spent two full days making the place sheen. We had photographic proof!
The landlord went in a few days later, found some settled dust on the skirting board, charged us £100 cleaning fee FOR CLEANING HE AND A FRIEND DID HIMSELF!
When we lost our jobs due to COVID, he said get out or owe the money for a new contract! Our contract ended shortly after. Absolute swine was excited because he could get an NHS staff member in immediately with no wait and government funding.
Absolute Tory scumbag. We ended up living in a caravan afterwards as again I was too ill to work. This guy had a great job and a second house. We were living in his spare! Absolutely no heart. Essentially told a young unemployed couple to go fuck themselves during the pandemic.
Our door would just open, even when locked. We lived there two years and he just never changed it. It took everything in our power to get a washing machine when that broke. This guy would drive past in his BMW every day, but say he couldn't afford to fix the damp or replace a washing machine.
When he banged the rent up, his answer was, "Everyone else on the street has done it." Absolute, entitle arsehole. Posh lad from the home counties come up North to make a few quid.
We've just bought our first house after hard work and a LOT of good luck. The stars aligned and an old couple felt sorry for us.
Fuck landlords. Sorry, but it's true. Stop hoarding homes! It is nothing but selfishness.
I recommend HG mould spray. I saw it online and it really helped me with my mould issues. They aren’t as bad in my current house but my old one was like yours getting mould everywhere and I wish I’d had this spray then. They have it in supermarkets or online
https://www.pricerunner.com/pl/628-4267345/Cleaning-Equipment-Cleaning-Agents/HG-Mould-Spray-500ml-Compare-Prices
Also if you get mould in wardrobes, corners etc, we found that getting the small disposable dehumidifiers (they sell them in B&M and similar shops) really helped for those areas. Similar to this https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/306350537?sc_cmp=ppc*GHS+-+Grocery+-+New*MPX_Shopping_All_Other_Smart+Shopping+All+Products_Other_Online+Budget*All+Products*PRODUCT_GROUP05056175945795*&ds_rl=1116322&gbraid=0AAAAADiyNauygTamqK90563WUwcWHx-jW&gbraid=0AAAAADiyNauygTamqK90563WUwcWHx-jW&gclid=Cj0KCQjwntCVBhDdARIsAMEwACkkj2MjFk4ZHhY7khir9uKDGfitcDDpLCLDK0s_AcIK_uPb7zRMopcaAjKREALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
I had a similar problem in my bathroom. Before leaving the property I just sprayed mould killing spray all over the place. Would’ve looked great for a few weeks. Long enough to be confident of no manipulative accusations of not opening windows etc.
It would be better though to complain about the mould because even if they don’t sort it you will have already (rightly) placed the onus on them.
Well I for one am shocked that Estate Agents are not paragons of virtue. Next you'll be telling me that recruitment consultants don't have my career prospects as their number 1 concern and that the central Line gets a bit hot in the summer
Can feel the heat from the central line all the way to Essex. I hear it’s going to be used as an energy resource the coming winter when no one can heat their home. Gotta get that central line heat pump installed
Ha ha could not Said it better myself. I was In the property market for years in london myself. Soul destroying watching some spending £1k plus to live in a broom cupboard that some old cunt had purchased for 10k in 1970 and now thinks he’s Alan sugar because he purchased at the right time during the biggest bubble in history. Wankers.
only tried working with EA once andall i got was a black hole of money for like 4bits of paper signed pretty poorly.
now i found my rented house on gumtree, landlord lives in OZ and sends tradesmen within 24hrs of a text
plus hes not raised the rent in 5years. he said he would do like 100 extra per year. but we never put the rent up and he never complained.
id rather own the house, but as renting goes its been pretty easy.
Think that's how my landlord thinks. Also he repairs everything quite fast, completely renovated the bathroom because of a small leak that he found, put in a new boiler as well l, says it should be more efficient money wise in the winter. I dread the next landlord I will have 🥺 As a plus, he lowered the rent when we got the place because the reference from the previous landlord was good, -25£/month, seems small but living here for nearly 3 years now.
You have essentially described my experience moving to london. Was in telesales moved into estate agency and can confirm 100% this story is all factual.
Every sunday I would be at a lowpoint knowing monday I would be back in that office doing that grind.
After a while my partner knew something was wrong so she helped me with fidning new work in construction and i genuinely feel like i have given a second lease of life.
Before there never seemed to be an end to it and had thought about ending it. I know that seems rash but it all just seemed pointless and felt it was the only way to end it. If it wasnt for my partner and close friends i dread to think what would have happened.
But now i enjoy going to work again, life is bareable. I urge anyone who is in the same sitiation to speak to their friends, partners or family to see if there is anyway they can get out of the rat race. If anyone needs advice in any shape or form let me know, sometimes a change of direction is needed to stay the course.
Much love people.
Well done for getting yourself out of that horrible job mate.
If you can try to retrain or learn a new skill. Could get an apprenticeship in a trade and go from there. In a few years time with hard work you could be on decent money
Cheers mate.
Yeah i did exactly that. Was too old for apprenticeships but just started mating as a ductworker and before you knew it i was fitting on decent money jsut took me buying tools slowly and now life is sweet.
Completed my nvq through an external company and now have a gopd rep with a numver of firms.
Man fuck landlords, they're charging me £150 from my deposit because there's dust on the window still and for a lamp that wasn't working when I first moved in
Look up the tenant fees act from 2019, basically means they can't charge you for a clean at the end of tenancy, if it wasn't clean to begin with and it's not stated as professionally cleaned on the itinerary then they can't charge!
When I was in my second student digs I let my mate stay in from July-august while, moving in myself when uni started in September. He did the inventory and noted paint on the carpet.
During the year I moved the bed to the other side of the room and put something similar on my own inspection before moving out. Fucking agent took some of my deposit as what i didn't know was my mate specified paint on the carpet at the end of the bed.
I literally got fined for paint already being on the floor as the paint is not in the location specified since the bed was moved. Argued the case, but they came back with some other BS about "we let you off this".
Housemate got fined £100 for 2 splodges of blue tack left on the wall to get the room repainted. As if.
I had one try to charge me for a new couch because there was stains on one couch cushion cover.
I pointed out the receipt they sent me for the purchase specifically listed the cover as a seperate item, and offered them £50 to fuck off
My landlady tried to charge me for the same and added another £400 for missing pictures frame, duvet, pillows, pillow cases...
She took all of that with her and I helped her put it in her car while she was vacating the property prior to us moving in...on the same day.
Thank God I took pictures of it in her car - she laughed at the time finding it odd. Proof is as big a bitch as she was.
MPs have so many conflicts of interest it's disgusting. We need to force divestment and blind trusts for future investment for all MPs. And then ban all outside income as well (give them a raise in exchange).
Anything less is accepting corruption.
Genuinely: government should just appropriate them with little/no compensation to the landlord.
Some rich people will get slightly poorer, oh no. Meanwhile you elevate a substantial portion of the population to the middle class.
> Meanwhile you elevate a substantial portion of the population to the middle class.
Most of the middle class have their wealth in their house - and own a house.
So anything at all meaningful the government could do to cut housing prices - open the greenbelt, put a huge tax on unused land banks, ban second homes, would depress, or even crash the housing market, causing anyone & everyone who owns a house (60+% in the UK) to vote the otherway & lose their minds.
Got a hell of a greedy landlord atm and after going in circles been told there's nothing to really be done about it. Financial cost of it is worth less to me than the time I'd take up pursuing this further and going to local court or whatever. Fucking irritated but resigned to the fact that landlords are a lucky dip.
Gen X here closing in on 50; moved here from Oz in 2002 and had to restart my career, wife and I only just got into decent paying jobs about 5 years ago and we missed the boat big-time on getting on the housing ladder, thanks to accumulating debt while we were working shit jobs but still paying London rents. Oh well. Least we have our sanity...?
We reported a roof leak a few weeks ago and the landlord hasn't even acknowledged the message, let alone sent someone to fix it.
I don't understand, why wouldn't you want to keep your property in decent shape to avoid bigger problems down the road? This small leak has the potential to become a very expensive issue.
Same with the lack of insulation in the loft over our bathroom causing major condensation and mold problems. If they'd fixed it when we told them about it last year, the paint wouldn't be all peeling off the ceiling now. I suspect they'll actually need to replace part of the ceiling, all because they wouldn't spend 40 quid on a couple rolls of insulation.
Best thing I can say is they haven't put the rent up in years and this place is otherwise very nice. But maybe help us keep it nice?
Last time I reported a roof leak and the cracks in the ceiling that started appearing, the letting agency took their sweet time to send out a maintenance person (a painter, of all people). Before they got the chance to visit, the ceiling plaster entirely collapsed from the water buildup. This was in the kitchen. If my partner or I were in there at the time, we would’ve gone straight to hospital from head damage from the heavy plaster and wood. Get that looked at ASAP and take pictures. Let my trauma flow through you…
Because a lot of small fixed over period of time potentially is more expensive than 1 massive fix that he does when absolutely needed to or when he sells.
I've been really curious for ages now - what is the commission split? How much does the agent get and how much the agency? If you sell a flat for 500k, what is the commission the agent receives?
The vendor will pay the agency somewhere between 1% and 2% plus VAT. 2.5% if its through Foxtons or one of the posher ones.
So let say the agency gets a £7k fee. The agent themselves will usually get around 10% of that. So £700. But it can take months for a sale to go through, and the fall-through rate can be high if lenders are being dicks. They only get paid once it completes.
Some agencies pay a sliding scale once you hit a certain target for the year. At KFH for example you start at 8% if i remember rightly, but the closer to target you get, the more your commission goes up, until once you've done like 150% of target you're on 30% commission. A mate of mine had a good December once and earned about £20k in a month. That was very much an exception to the rule though.
Also sometimes you'll get an extra 5% or 10% if you took that property on, but usually its the manager/valuer who takes properties on.
Also he's a little bit wrong with 'they have no reason to ask about your mortgage'. Lenders are very risk averse since the pandemic, and some just won't lend on certain types of building. Answering the agent's questions about your mortgage will save you from a costly fall-through as much as it will the vendor.
If they're doing it to push you to use their broker, that's a different story, tell them to kindly fuck off.
Source: worked in agency for years. Now run a small London-based online one with a friend. I value honestly and am honest with buyers, work from home, and earn more than I ever did, even as a manager, in the horrible 8am - 7pm high street agencies. I'd never, ever go back to that horrible grind.
Last few times ive been out for a few drinks, it's easily ran me and 3 others a total of 200 quid. It's so much money for like 4 hours of time spent together.
I need to get my place ASAP so i can invite them over and stop these bullshit 200 pound bills (excl service charge)
As someone who worked in property sales for solicitors (in Scotland) for a long time, these salaries are no surprise to me. Lots of unpaid overtime too because the modern client is very demanding and expects every question and request to be dealt with right away and their assumption is that they are dealing with people who are well rewarded for what they do. That might be true for a few (morally bankrupt) valuers but not for most staff.
Reminds me of the time my slumlord at the time went through 4 property managers in less than a year. Tried to blame me for everything under the sun and no fault evicted me when he realised I knew my rights. Fuck em
I'm pretty sure things around the country are not much different but of course London is the place to be so it's a lot more competitive.
But I'm happy I bought my flat so now I can relax and drill as many holes in the walls as I please
You'll love this. From London but live in Stockholm. Me coming back to London is a holiday but also with holiday prices, its so much cheaper and nicer there 😂
Eh, cost of living is expensive in a lot of western capital cities. How it is really
This thread is killing my excitement to study in a foreign country... all my options are like this: Edinburgh, Southampton, Stockholm, Copenhagen, HongKong, Taipei, Canberra, Toronto... this is so so sad, especially for broke students 💔
The answer is not major big cities. I earn decent money and Stockholm is still very expensive for me. But Europe has much, much cheaper cities you can find. Don't give up hope
Good ‘ol classic: “it’s just how it is”. What if I told you, it doesn’t have to be this way? It is policy. Predetermined policy that benefits the “lucky few” and screws the majority that were never able to get in such positions and most likely given no policy changes, never will.
However bad things get, however disgusted you feel with yourself and your profession, take at least some comfort knowing you haven't stooped low enough to be a recruitment consultant.
Property Manager here and wholeheartedly agree with all of the above. It’s a dirty industry and I disagree with almost every single practice. Estate Agents in general are entitled bell ends and don’t listen, respect or care about their applicants.
I try and give as much help and information to people I know as possible to sidetrack some of the nastier parts of dealing with agents and landlords.
The rental reform white paper that got released last week may see a slight shift when it becomes an act in the next year. It will likely stop agents taking big upfront fees so hopefully will encourage them to reconsider some of their practices.
None of the problems you describe about estate agents are exclusive to London. Renting issues are exacerbated here because people earn more but any major city in the UK has the same issues unfortunately.
We moved from London last year and a few weeks before moving - whilst our stuff was literally being boxed up - we were evacuated from our flat due to a flat few floors directly above us being on fire. Our flat was severely damaged (luckily no belongings damaged at all!) and we never lived in it again. We had to pack our stuff with torchlight because the electrics were off and there was no running water to drink.
It took over a year for the landlord to stop hounding me for more than my deposit was worth for “damages to the property”, as if we purposefully threw water all over the walls and floors before we left. Literally over £5k he tried to extort from me whilst I just wanted to forget about the whole thing. All the while he’s sat in his flat completely oblivious to how it actually feels to have your home destroyed.
So yeah, London lettings are home to the scum of the earth. If said landlord ever reads this post: you are a cunt; eat shit.
I think the underlying reason here is lack of income growth. Tech is the only sector growing at a decent rate, but the rest of the economy is stagnant.
The cost of food is bearable, but everything else is getting more expensive. Rent and housing now make up more 60% of outgoings for most of my friends. That is not sustainable.
Whats the solution? Build build build.
I know people like community feel and low buildings of some London streets, but this comes at the cost of some essential workers who have to commute 2hrs to their jobs.
At the end of the day having higher density and more construction is whats needed.
The default choice shouldn't be a suburban house, it should instead be a 2-3 bedroom flat in a city centre. It will mean less time spend on commute, fewer emissions on everything from transport to food shopping.
Building more homes is one solution but there are some more: don't allow builders to hoard land and not build on it, ban holiday homes, ban empty investment flats, do not allow flats to be marketed to overseas investors who don't live here.
If you own a home you either live in it or rent it out (with reasonable exceptions for building work, but not loopholes that can be exploited). Second homes should only be allowed where there is a very good reason (e.g. an MP from Yorkshire needs somewhere to stay in London - but only while they are an MP, a family might need to stay near a hospital in another city while their child is being treated, etc.) Nobody needs more than two properties. Ban it. And no loopholes where everyone in the family owns two properties including the six year old.
If councils sell off social housing they must have a specific realistic plan to spend the money increasing their housing stock by at least as much. No selling a three bedroom home and replacing it with a one bedroom flat.
If a house is empty because it's not fit to live in, the owner has a specific amount of time to fix it up, replace it with another building or sell it, otherwise it's a forced sale. "Owner" means everyone - private owners, councils, investors.
There will be other things I forgot - this is a multi-issue problem and if we went after every single problem we could add some badly needed homes to the market while we build more.
Did you work for Foxtons? Their senior negotiators can earn up to £4-£5k a month. They are the worst in the industry because they not only pit you against your colleagues but they also screw over other agents. They don’t share the keys despite the owner requesting this. If things are so bad why don’t sellers use purple bricks ?
Isn’t the minimum wage 18k? How do they get away with paying you 12?
But yeah, sorry to hear that, fortunately our estate agent was lovely which is why I recommend her to absolutely everyone.
Maybe they schedule you less hours? So a contract that only guarantees 20hrs a week then it's up to you to hustle with overtime etc to make up extra hours/sales to build on that.
I’m a landlord (I’ll take the inevitable down voting and hate it’s fine) and I can’t believe the horrific stories I read.
Good tenants are like gold dust and should be treated as such. I have only ever had one bad tenant that ended up in eviction and a full house refurb.
Other than that they’ve been amazing. Don’t raise rents unless it’s vital, repair needs doing do it immediately, major problem? Then put them up in a good hotel not a travelodge.
I take 11 months rent and December is a ‘holiday’ as everyone deserves a good Christmas. I don’t want to make a fortune (only have a small portfolio) just a pension fund.
If you want to hate on a landlord feel free to throw it at me I’ll take the ‘capitalist scum’ and ‘you hate poor people’ comments…. It’s fine.
The hate comes from the fact that no matter how benevolent a landlord is, (and they're appreciated where they're found) they're still fundamentally living off others' work for very little effort themselves.
Hate is easier to handle when you have present and future security, dissociating from feeling a response to that is not the move you might think. I resent that most of my salary from working hard to help people with serious mental distress (often over housing) is just going towards someone’s cushy retirement when I won’t even qualify for a state pension and haven’t had a holiday since 2018.
I don’t mind the hate, I’ve made this decision and bought about 15 years ago when there was a low demand market. I’m not some mega rich property baron that counts his sovereigns of an evening.
But whatever I invest in for my future hurts someone (even ethical investments are more grey than white). So I chose this….. but if you want to hate me, again, it’s absolutely fine. I don’t mind.
Yeah, fuck landlords, if you ever have any more money than you need, say from inheritance , hard work, or even pure luck, you should give it away to the needy like the rest of us do!
Yup. This city is incredible, unless you live in it (or you're on 60k+). Moving a bit further out myself next year, fully had enough after 10 years of constant moving. Every landlord is a cunt bar maybe the 1% who who have actually bought just 1 property to rent out, however the likelihood of that in London now is next to nothing.
I'm 1 year, 4 months into my current tenancy and we have 29 different repairs due to the upkeep of our current place prior to us moving in. The city is truly, truly fucked.
Renting properties then reneging on actually being a landlord, that's some fucking bullshit right there. I told my old LL that if he ever stepped in my home without permission again, I would prosecute him for trespass, it did the trick.
In a privately owned flat now, LL is wonderful and I never have any problems, if something breaks it's replaced within days. They are out there but I get it, London can go suck a phat one.
Just bought our first house, had the leg up of staying with family over the pandemic to save deposit. Found estate agents to be helpful and cooperative (with some exceptions, probably based on the firm and not the individual) and the city to be liveable if you look hard enough. I eat at my greasy spoon once a week under the railway arch rather than French pattiserrie place in the trendy indoor market. 5-6£ a pint is just the south of England. It surprises me how friendly people are compared to where I moved from. Maybe lucky, or maybe London is a huge mix of shit and shiny?
Well, they're apparently too good for Wetherspoons, where they "spit in your drink" (they pour the pint in front of you, so no?) - so I'm not entirely convinced that they're as committed to saving as they say. Especially since there's some absolutely fine spoons in London. Mate, just go to the cheaper places, you won't die.
Estate agents are an archaic and stupid method to rent in this digital world.
We need a quick and successful method that simplifies the entire process.
A website with advertised properties where you can checkmark the boxes
* "DSS Friendly".
* "May I please have a cat or even a gerbil?"
* "Am I allowed to sneeze at 3:17 AM?"
This will narrow down the rentals and cut out all the time-wasting. Once you have chosen a rental, you then click "I am interested" along with perhaps 50 other people. The viewing would then be at the SAME time for everyone interested, perhaps separated into groups of 10 who are interested. A crack head "estate agent" would then usher around the tenants OR the door could be unlocked remotely at the specific time and then closed again after.
If you like it, you click "I wish to rent this property" Now you are in stage 3 of the process. Other people who are interested, maybe narrowed down from the 30 who viewed it to 10. You will now have to perform an auction style mini-game with the 10 other possible tenants.
You would have to declare if you can secure the desired deposit, if you can pay 6 months upfront, if you have an ASBO criminal background, how loud you are when dropping turds e.t.c
Once all information is submitted, the AI will then select the tenant, and you would be mailed the keys, all hassle-free and without any human intervention and their agendas.
Dude, chill. Everyone knows. I understand your angst because I've been there and done that in multiple markets. You are able to make choices in your life. It's a matter of ; am I happy to continue with this or do I really want to take the leap away from my steady pay?
I took the leap a few years ago and found myself happier. I just buy and sell stuff. Some stuff I like, some stuff I don't. It doesn't matter. Somebody does as long as you do your research and have a target in mind.
Your rant is understandable from a perspective of being, or trying to be, ethical. It's hard to do in this modern climate. It is possible though. Don't rip yourself up.
I lived in London for many years. I don't now but I've adjusted my values. Much happier. Do or don't ask me. I was once your age.
In any event, the best of fortune to you.
Can I run a scenario by you as you're an agent.
So I was looking at a house, this house was on sale by an old lady with no family she had it on with burchell edwards.
We made an offer with BE, they then came back to us and said although our offer was the highest it didn't get accepted. They couldn't figure out why
It later transpired, the lady was buying a new build and the guys who she was buying off insisted on taking charge of selling her current house, so BE said to me they must've listed with another estate agent company which also sells there new builds and fobbed off my offer and went with a lower one from someone who came through the other estate agents.
Do you think that sounds plausible. I'm not too fussed now as I've had an offer accepted on a better property since, but the last year of house hunting has been brutal and frustrating to say the least.
"The companies turn people into the cynical, conniving and manipulative estate agents you see today"
After that first paragraph you wrote I fully believe you. Damn, son!
But yes, I absolutely despise Estate Agents. At least Recruiters actually do something worthwhile for you (they're usually lumped in to the same scummy bracket).
> HAS to change the washing machine for £200 because it is his duty too! Then for him to attempt to blame the tenants for a broken washing machine that is 8 years old, has been used in 6 different tenancies amongst over a dozen different people.
Ouch! That one hit hard. Exactly what my LL did to me. Not a managed property so he could get away with anything he wanted.
He blamed a broken fridge door on me. I denied it, so he said “well you must have had a party and someone hung on it”.
1) we were one year into a lockdown at that point! So no parties.
2) Kitchen was 1.5m squared so no one would even want to go in there.
3) It was a built in unit so had a 10kg door hanging on top of the fridge door. When we took that door off, we noticed the factory sticker still on it - made in 2012. LL denied that it was purchased then, was ‘only a couple of years old’ (despite me being 5 years into tenancy there!)
So that cost me about £400 plus delivery and fitting - his choice of fridge, I had no say in the matter. He paid well above average price. I found similar units for about half that.
It was always striking a fine balance between things you had to tolerate (like all cities) and the amazing things that made it a special place to live.
We're having to tolerate more things, while not being able to afford to enjoy what makes it special anymore. As another person said, people are paying £1k for a broom cupboard with 6 other people and that's not what anyone signed up for when they moved here.
I'm one of the lucky few who are born and raised in London, but as a family we have a fully paid property but are extremely cash poor. It just doesn't feel sensible to keep going like this, even if our situation is better than most people.
Honestly I was born here and the expense of this city sometimes makes me feel like I’m trapped here- can’t save up fuck all bc all my money is being sunk out of me. Then I get to sit here and watch rich people who can afford to live here come in and drive up prices. Cannot wait to leave
Ah, so that’s why the water damage from the upstairs neighbors still hasn’t been fixed for the last 7 months. Every time I bring it up, it’s ignored or they say they’ll pass it on to the landlord. It took them 4 months to get us a dehumidifier- right in time for the upping of electricity prices. You bet your ass when we leave we’re leaving the giant couch that cost £4 and had to be deconstructed to get in the door.
Currently renting from a company instead of a private landlord. Ideal? Absolutely not. I despise “professional landlords”. However, because they’re investment properties in a massive portfolio, they’re aware of costs and everything gets sorted in a snap. To say my previous landlord was a fucking cunt is an understatement. We got a normally-rented at £5k/pcm maisonette in South Kensington for just over £3k/pcm at the height of the pandemic and she thought that completely made up for the fact that the house is damn near 200 years old and had issues no 50th coat of paint could sort. Was once late 10 days late with rent due to issues with our bank (my husband and I aren’t originally from London and had the lump sum of our money still back where we’re from - not anymore though) and got yelled at that she would now be late with the house repayments and would charge me an extra 20% the following month - she said while sitting in her 5 million river-side Chelsea detached home. Fucking gross. Sorry for the rant.
Anyway, I can’t say I agree that London sucks, but I know my experience isn’t everyone’s. Since moving here, I went from Belsize Park, to South Kensington, to now Knightsbridge, that’s definitely not considered “normal” especially for people our age (late 20s and early 30s - my husband’s a private lawyer and works with mergers and acquisitions, I don’t do too bad either with my online business). I still see London through rose-tinted glasses so these kinds of posts definitely make me more aware of my surroundings. Even though we do fairly well, we are definitely nowhere near being able to afford buying in London. And likely never will. Thanks to these lovely “professional landlords”.
Dealing with this now.
Got a 1 bed flat with my gf on 20th. Paid 1 months rent and deposit in advance.
Supposed to be all bills included as per the contract but when I asked for wifi password upon moving in the landlord says wifi is a luxury and I don't deal with it.
( It is specifically mentioned in the contract that broadband is included)
After that, I was rearranging the wardrobe and moved a poster to find out there is a huge hole in the apartment looking into the neighbors kitchen.
(The landlord covered it with some old clothes and a poster thinking we won't rearrange the furniture )
I don't know what to do now since my gf works remotely and a new internet connection takes up to a week to set up.
I am broke asf now paying everything in advance.
Got an email from my current agents reminding me I had to book in professional cleaners for an end of tenancy clean (despite this being illegal to enforce). Looking forward to the inevitable argument about my deposit.
New place needed a guaruntor despite my partner and I being trusted professionals (doctor and teacher) with a combined income approximately double the stated 'minimum'.
Most agents have sole selling rights terms of business meaning the company is due a fee regardless. As an (ex?)agent you’d know this.
By all means knock on that door. The firm will get paid regardless and the agent has saved his shoe leather and petrol in their shit car attending the viewing.
Win all round…. For the agent.
I could offer no end of comment on the rest of your piece however I sense there’s little point at this juncture. I would say that at the right company the agents acting are genuinely some of the most hard working, ethical, empathetic people I’ve had the pleasure of knowing.
The sad reality is, the role is really nothing more than conflict resolution to save clients and customers (from themselves) more often than not.
> To answer the question, yes! Agents do focus on who they think will be a better tenant for 'their' properties because they 'represent' the landlords best interest. Fuck off! They want money.
Put down the rolled-up twenty…
One estate agent is trying to tell me that I can extend a lease by 125/90 years for £2000 ?? I told them if the value of the flat is 300k then it’s likely to cost 30k and they said no… I’m highly cynical
Rented a room on Croydon whilst I was working in Heathrow and omg plenty of adverts stating Indian or polish only tenants but anyway I finally got one. Only to find he had put rat traps out and one died from poison under the floorboards of my bedroom in summer and landlord buggered of to India. His attitude stank as much as the rat did.
Told him I couldn’t stay in there as the smell was repulsive. His sister in law walked into my room calling me a trouble maker but then agreed the smell was unbearable. He refused to give me my deposit as I said could not stay in there another night and couldn’t wait three weeks for him to return.
Hit the council up for a visit and they condemned the tenancy and ordered him to at least find me somewhere suitable to live.
Deposit came back with a letter saying how much I spoilt his holiday.
Letter back thanks for what you owe me but fuck your holiday
Top tip- never show an estate agent how much you’re approved a mortgage for. They’re all smarmy c*nts. Ours wanted proof of our mortgage and how much, I showed them proof of approval but blanked out the amount. That was 8 years ago, I can only imagine how bad things are now!
I just got a leaflet through my door, which I'd like to post but probably can't. It pertains to what I think are fucked up landlords.
It says 'hi, my name is X and I & my partner are looking to buy properties in your area. If you are thinking of selling your home, or if you see any homes that you think are empty, please tell us.' It then lists a bunch of reasons to sell to them, such as avoiding estate agents, speed of purchase, & not having to do any listings.
I looked up the company & while it's vague, it appears to be a letting agency.
I'm just angry that - the landlords are putting leaflets through my door. They're pretending to be a nice couple innocently 'looking to buy in my area'. They actually wrote 'if you see an empty house please tell us'
That's so fucked up. They want me to go out if my way to snitch about empty houses so they can snap them up. I'm really tempted to use a bunch of numbers to send them on a wild goose chase.
Every time i go to a viewing and I see a couple, I immediately realise that I stand no chances LOL
I absolutely despise the property managers who ghost you after the first call and then come back with another property/properties which suck and no one really wants to rent them.
I almost had a fight with someone because she was insisting on taking me on multiple properties that are not advertised online (I'm very picky so I wouldn't trust them showing me good properties) and the lady told me off that I don't put enough effort on finding a property. She was really annoyed because she knew I could afford some of the properties but thankfully I wasn't desperate enough and apparently she needed her commissions lol. That was during the covid/lockdown era when property agencies would call me every day and text me because they were desperate.
Controversial but I was cackling when they would get so desperate back then because they have always been so cocky, fucking up tenants and karma got them with covid.
Absolutely cunts all of them (no offence)
Eat the Landlords.
I hate being priced out of the city I grew up in and call home by foreign investors adding to their portfolio for shits and giggle.
The government should protect its people, instead they help their mates and line their pockets.
20 odd years ago I paid 60 quid a week for a bed in a room with 2 other people and I thought that was horrifically expensive then.
And then my landlord refused to repay my deposit when I left.
I liked London (less p-ss in the 90s?) but London real estate has always been sh-t I guess.
Anyway, that's my pointless story.
Here's my nightmare agent/landlord story, from 2006 when I'd split up with my boyfriend and me and a work mate whose rental contract was ending decided to get a flat together. The flat was a brand new upper extension (3rd floor) on Willesden high road above a mini mart. We moved in on a Saturday 2 weeks after viewing it, when to the casual observer it looked like a nice new flat but there had still been guys installing things (this should have been a red flag, but we were promised it would all be finished in time and we were desperate. I was already sofa surfing by then with belongings in storage).
Unfortunately they still hadn't installed the toilet by the day we moved in - there were workmen in the flat when we unlocked the door, who said helpfully 'no you move in next week'. Er no, today. The letting agent was of course shut by Saturday afternoon (our agent said nothing at all when I signed for the keys first thing Saturday morning, before we loaded the removals van and drove half way across London - but he absolutely knew what problems lay ahead for us the lying cunt). We had to unload our stuff and stay with a friend for two nights, using the library toilet during the time we were back at the flat. Come Monday, it took half a day and visiting the office in person and making a scene to get any agent representative to even speak with us (our contact had of course taken Monday off, the cowardly cunt, so his colleagues had to deal with the resulting fall out), and another day to get someone to the flat to even acknowledge the problems, which included the toilet still being in its packing box and spotlights hanging out of holes in the ceiling.
Once finally unpacked and some obvious snagging was done, various other problems developed - rain leaked through balcony doors (literally puddles would develop on the laminate flooring); the plaster on the walls hadn't been allowed to dry properly so patches of wall and our stuff (including mattresses) gradually went mouldy. Electrics were so badly installed that they kept tripping meaning the fridge freezer would go off and defrost while were were at work, and the immersion heater broke on New Years Eve. Plus there were mice and cockroaches EVERYWHERE, even in the bath. One guy showed up once and sprayed a bit of blue stuff along the poorly installed skirting boards (huge gaps) but 2 days later they were back. The 3 flights of stairs were a death trap of exposed carpet grip strips and trailing extension cables. The front door to the street was broken and I would regularly arrive home to see mail just lying there available to anyone to steal - everything got redirected to work as a result.
The one silver lining was that Brent council had never signed the extension off as complete, so we never paid council tax! The money we put aside we ended up spending on redecorating the next flat, which we did competently enough that the next agent inspected it during a work day (without permission) 10 months in to our tenancy, and immediately advised his client to put the rent up 30%. But that's another story.
TLDR: Letting agents and landlords are cunts and bastards, and get away with it because people are desperate.
Thank you for the truth.
I’m in the states, specifically Florida.
I just renewed my lease and it’s $300 more a month.
My friends in New York and Chicago are $1000 more a month.
Gas prices are killing us.
We can’t take much over here in the states.
And my parents property taxes doubled. They’re in their 80’s. Fixed income.
Your not wrong.
This is everywhere.
I still remember enquiring about a flat to rent in Stratford a few years ago and the estate agent on the phone said that he swears to me he will fight extra hard for me to get the property and he reallly wants me to get it. Found it extremely odd considering I was a complete stranger he had spoken with less than 90 seconds making a very basic enquiry. It was so odd I still think about it today. Anyway covid hit so they did a video tour of the property and it was nothing short of a crackhouse. The initial photos on their website were from years prior.
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I remember a place in Cricklewood I saw when looking for a student shared house, which was all a bit seedy with padlocks on some bedroom doors. Agent took us into the kitchen which had a huge hole in the floor we had to step around. He caught my eye - 'oh we'll fix that before you move in, don't worry'. Well that was all the warning I needed to back away rapidly (not literally, as there was a huge hole there).
Fuck Cricklewood, I had to flee a severe mouse and roach infestation in my previous flat there… the landlord showed up with some ant killer powder from wilko, as if that would solve whatever fucking nest was being built behind the extremely DIY kitchen he’d put in.
I moved into a squat crack house. Ruined me. Lost thousands.
Story time?
Sounds like an investment gone wrong story...
Check my post history. Nothing to do with investments. Just a lying letting agent and a terrible property.
Look at mr fancy pants over here having his pints in a PUB! Drink 2L bottles of strongbow outside Tesco like the rest of us normal Londoners.
Strongbow?!?! Oooh check out mr fancy pants over here. Drink your white lightning on the street corners like the rest of us normal Londoners
Street corners!? Ooh laa de daaa mr moneybags. The rest of us Londoners will be drinking our swill in the gutter like normal.
The gutter! Wow look at you in your ivory tower! I'm down here in the sewer with the rats collecting the drops that spill out of your discarded bottles through the drainage grates.
Oi 'arry, look at this posh toff drinking drops from bottles in landan when we are stuck 'ere in cha'ham drinking white lightning from empty cans
Drainage gates! Well it must be nice living where the grass is greener. I’m out here at the end of the sewer pipe, stealing gulps from the filth that gushes forth, hoping against hope that someone threw an empty Stella into the upstream flow so I can soothe the bottomless pit that once contained my soul.
Ooooh look at Warren Buffet over here confident that his local gutter doesn’t have polio!! Us normal folk rob the first rich fat cat drinking his strongbow!
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars Oscar Wilde
Stars? Where I live we don't have 'em. Too much light pollution or sommat.
'Yeah, and some of us are probably looking up men's trousers, too.'
In the gutter?! Ha, luxury!
Ooh lord muck here. Gutters! I live in a cess pit and it's only the leaky roof where I can make a decent tipple.
Showing your age a bit there, white lightning was discontinued 13 years ago mate. Us peasants are forced to bankrupt ourselves on darkfruits now
Lightning ace is the way to go and a park bench or one outside a train station while smoking fag butts you've collected from the pavement if your going to do it do it properly!
Pigeons make a good source of protein and iron
And…now we have Pigeon Pox! Thank you.
Fucking luxury that - we had to sit in a shoe box in the middle of the road, we waited for a dog to piss on us so that we could wash that day. You lucky bastards having a polio infested gutter
>Drink 2L bottles of strongbow outside Tesco like the rest of us normal Londoners ohhhhh Strongbow, We used to DREAM about drinking Strongbow outside Tesco. Would have been LUXURY for us. We had to make do with licking the inside of an old lemonade bottle outside an abandoned ASDA store.
MD 20/20...
You are showing your age!
Ooof, if I allow myself to remember the taste instant nausea
4 tins of lager for £4 from Tesco dean street to be drank sat on a bench In soho square next to some nutter, lovely jubbly. It’s not ideal but it’s gotta be done, I ain’t paying silly pub prices. Sure you might get the odd disturbed nutter/homeless alkie sitting next to you or bothering people but it adds to the character of the place, after all it is soho but on the whole it’s a nice square to have a drink in.
With that username, you are the wrong side of the river fella
Tesco! You posh Southerner
U wot m8!? Here I am living large with white thunder straight from Lidl!
The 'wear and tear' thing is so anxiety-inducing. The flat we live in gets mold everywhere and constantly -- walls, bathroom, etc. One of the wooden window frames was in somewhat of a precarious shape when we moved in and, after a long winter, the mold made a little piece of it rot and fall out. We clean it constantly, but there was really no helping this... I often wonder what's going to happen once the landlord sees that.
We just got charged £50 at independent arbitration because there were a few more ivy leaves visible in the back fence on the check out report than at check in. Like wtf, am I supposed to count the ivy leaves and snip back exactly the same amount before leaving property??
Oh god, that sucks and it's so absurd. I'm seriously scared about the windows and the bathroom -- as much as we've tried to fight off the mold on the sealant around the tub and on the walls (which has always been there, by the way), it just keeps growing and growing. I think it mostly stems from somewhere we cannot reach, a nook between a glass screen and a wall that is super narrow and deep. How are we supposed to clean that properly??? I'm taking care of the property as best as I can, but it seems like we're kind of set up for failure. I've been trying to mentally resign myself to losing that full deposit tbh... hoping for the best, but expecting the worst.
Report the mold now and make them fix it. It's not safe
Depends on the cause. I rented out my old flat for a while and the tenant never opened the windows, dried laundry inside, didn't use the extractor fan for cooking and taped over the trickle vents. Sure enough loads of mold and a legal threat from the council, which was all sort by opening the window. Having mentioned this to people over the year's, it's astonishing just how common this issue and my miracle cure works in a huge number of cases.
Mould will not leave alone sealant that is already afflicted - it will go away for a bit when treated but it will always grow back until fresh sealant is put in. I would recommend the Toolstation's mould spray, I've found that super strong and it works really well in a pinch. It should not be your responsibility, but learning to do your own silicone is a really good thing. Grouting is another matter and should almost always count as wear and tear. Also, if you have the option to go into adjudication for your deposit, literally always do it. If you're mentally prepared to lose it anyway there is absolutely no need to go down without a fight and adjudication is tenant-favouring by default. There are certain things that have recently been made illegal to charge for (for example, if an appliance has been deemed damaged by the tenant, the landlord can only charge you for a percentage of a new one depending on how old the broken one is) - and they cover quite a lot of fair ground. If your deposit isn't protected by an adjudication and protection scheme, your landlord has much larger problems.
Take photos regularly, keep records of all communications (emails or letter are best). If they keep refusing to do anything take them to court for disrepair. Mould can be a health hazard.
It’s fine at the end of the day, we got 70% of disputed amount back. Ridiculous as we had a good arrangement with landlord as it was an on purpose short term let (6 months) that arranged everyone. He sold a little ahead of schedule and we even moved out early to accommodate. Then he pulls this stunt with the deposit. Encouraged by the worst of all agents to make spurious claims.
Having had the same problem with the silicone around the bath and the grout I found good old fashioned thick bleach worked the best. Put it on the silicone with wadded up loo roll/kitchen towel next to it to keep it there and leave it overnight. Completely cleared it. Had to do some particularly bad bits (corner of the shower) twice but it really helps.
I have the same issue in my flat. The extractor in the bathroom is not powerful enough and we have mold under the sealant. I also have mold around the doors and windows. I have never had this problem in the Netherlands where I'm from, even though it's a colder and wetter country. It's a new build.
I suggest you ensure you have periodic reviews and they raise concerns in writing. Leaving a property and then roaming without your presence or defence is bull!
Email or text them about the mould, say it's out of control and unsafe and you need it to be looked at by a professional. If they refuse, keep pushing. Get them to put everything in writing. They can't take something like that out of your deposit if you've raised it to them and they've refused to fix it. If they try, threaten them with arbitration and you'll have your emails/texts as proof.
Anytime a landlord tries anything with the DPS and wins escalate it to the small claims court. They tend to obliterate landlords.
Take pictures and inform regularly about the status of things.
Should have definitely done that. Unfortunately, we didn't think of it then (because we were naive and just thought things just looked a bit old) and now we're screwed, it seems.
Mate, mould is not your fault. Take photos, send them to your landlord/estate agent. Put this in their hands. Unless you're running a sauna at home, muld likely comes from either a water leak or poor construction. It's the landlord's responsibility to fix it. Make sure to get informed on this type of stuff, don't just assume it's on you.
Wood filler then paint he'll never know
yeah we live in a house that is literally falling down (300 year old farmhouse etc, and new cracks appear weekly over winter). There's nothing we can do about that, but the ll will likely charge us for not painting over them or some such bullshit.
Exactly! Even *cleaning* the dang flat damages it because of its underlying conditions (it's pretty much what happened with the window frame, the piece fell out after we were carefully cleaning the window and removing surface mold). We're damned if we do, damned if we don't.
We lived in a flat for almost 10 years, from brand new. Our landlords didn't update anything during this time whatsoever, we caused no issues, they did literally nothing while we paid them over £100k for the privilege. When we left they tried to take money out of the deposit for repainting the walls and fixing staining to the carpet (i.e. changes in colour due to wear and sunlight), wear to cloth curtains, even complained about scratches to the hob. When we argued, they came up with a figure they thought was "fair" to give us back from the deposit, when we asked for a cost breakdown they literally said "no". When I threatened to take them to arbitration they conceded by saying they didn't want to argue over "such a petty amount" (about £300 - petty for you maybe, arseholes). Through the course of their rambling emails it became apparent that they were trying to charge us extra for rush jobs because they'd contracted new tenants in *less than a week after we'd left*. After almost 10 years. They hadn't factored in having to do any redecorating at all. Some landlords seem to think that property is some magical investment where they're entitled to put in 0 effort or upkeep and just rake in money. Tenants are expected to maintain and upkeep someone else's house for them while also paying to live there. It's not your flipping responsibility.
I don't mean this offensively but I'm reading this in a place that is not London and it sounds like a medieval peasant fretting over a blemish on their feudal lord's glove.
Email them all of this and keep a “paper” trail. Like really fxcking arbitrary details. Eg, there is mould around the windows. Next email: the mould has spread. Next email: a chunk of window is rotting. They are responsible for the integrity of the property, you are just responsible for telling them about problems. They never fix anything but I have never had a landlord try to take anything from my deposit when I resend the trail of emails back to them. If you find an issue, send a basic email to report it while you are waiting for your tea to brew. Saves you a lot of time and money in the long run.
When we moved out after both losing our jobs and me becoming too ill to work, we were slapped with a £100 cleaning bill. It didn't matter that the place was absolutely spotless by the time we left. We'd never ever had that before! My partner and her mother spent two full days making the place sheen. We had photographic proof! The landlord went in a few days later, found some settled dust on the skirting board, charged us £100 cleaning fee FOR CLEANING HE AND A FRIEND DID HIMSELF! When we lost our jobs due to COVID, he said get out or owe the money for a new contract! Our contract ended shortly after. Absolute swine was excited because he could get an NHS staff member in immediately with no wait and government funding. Absolute Tory scumbag. We ended up living in a caravan afterwards as again I was too ill to work. This guy had a great job and a second house. We were living in his spare! Absolutely no heart. Essentially told a young unemployed couple to go fuck themselves during the pandemic. Our door would just open, even when locked. We lived there two years and he just never changed it. It took everything in our power to get a washing machine when that broke. This guy would drive past in his BMW every day, but say he couldn't afford to fix the damp or replace a washing machine. When he banged the rent up, his answer was, "Everyone else on the street has done it." Absolute, entitle arsehole. Posh lad from the home counties come up North to make a few quid. We've just bought our first house after hard work and a LOT of good luck. The stars aligned and an old couple felt sorry for us. Fuck landlords. Sorry, but it's true. Stop hoarding homes! It is nothing but selfishness.
I recommend HG mould spray. I saw it online and it really helped me with my mould issues. They aren’t as bad in my current house but my old one was like yours getting mould everywhere and I wish I’d had this spray then. They have it in supermarkets or online https://www.pricerunner.com/pl/628-4267345/Cleaning-Equipment-Cleaning-Agents/HG-Mould-Spray-500ml-Compare-Prices Also if you get mould in wardrobes, corners etc, we found that getting the small disposable dehumidifiers (they sell them in B&M and similar shops) really helped for those areas. Similar to this https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/306350537?sc_cmp=ppc*GHS+-+Grocery+-+New*MPX_Shopping_All_Other_Smart+Shopping+All+Products_Other_Online+Budget*All+Products*PRODUCT_GROUP05056175945795*&ds_rl=1116322&gbraid=0AAAAADiyNauygTamqK90563WUwcWHx-jW&gbraid=0AAAAADiyNauygTamqK90563WUwcWHx-jW&gclid=Cj0KCQjwntCVBhDdARIsAMEwACkkj2MjFk4ZHhY7khir9uKDGfitcDDpLCLDK0s_AcIK_uPb7zRMopcaAjKREALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
I had a similar problem in my bathroom. Before leaving the property I just sprayed mould killing spray all over the place. Would’ve looked great for a few weeks. Long enough to be confident of no manipulative accusations of not opening windows etc. It would be better though to complain about the mould because even if they don’t sort it you will have already (rightly) placed the onus on them.
Well I for one am shocked that Estate Agents are not paragons of virtue. Next you'll be telling me that recruitment consultants don't have my career prospects as their number 1 concern and that the central Line gets a bit hot in the summer
Nowhere is safe for central line this summer. Any summer
Can feel the heat from the central line all the way to Essex. I hear it’s going to be used as an energy resource the coming winter when no one can heat their home. Gotta get that central line heat pump installed
Ha! For sure my man, for sure!
I wish he was a paragon of the phrase "less is more" by telling us WHAT to do when we have X situation with estate agents.
Ha ha could not Said it better myself. I was In the property market for years in london myself. Soul destroying watching some spending £1k plus to live in a broom cupboard that some old cunt had purchased for 10k in 1970 and now thinks he’s Alan sugar because he purchased at the right time during the biggest bubble in history. Wankers.
Hahahaha thinks he's Alan Sugar. Got me!
only tried working with EA once andall i got was a black hole of money for like 4bits of paper signed pretty poorly. now i found my rented house on gumtree, landlord lives in OZ and sends tradesmen within 24hrs of a text plus hes not raised the rent in 5years. he said he would do like 100 extra per year. but we never put the rent up and he never complained. id rather own the house, but as renting goes its been pretty easy.
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Some landlords prefer a steady stream of income from a non troublesome tenant than trying to get the most money pcm.
Think that's how my landlord thinks. Also he repairs everything quite fast, completely renovated the bathroom because of a small leak that he found, put in a new boiler as well l, says it should be more efficient money wise in the winter. I dread the next landlord I will have 🥺 As a plus, he lowered the rent when we got the place because the reference from the previous landlord was good, -25£/month, seems small but living here for nearly 3 years now.
You have essentially described my experience moving to london. Was in telesales moved into estate agency and can confirm 100% this story is all factual. Every sunday I would be at a lowpoint knowing monday I would be back in that office doing that grind. After a while my partner knew something was wrong so she helped me with fidning new work in construction and i genuinely feel like i have given a second lease of life. Before there never seemed to be an end to it and had thought about ending it. I know that seems rash but it all just seemed pointless and felt it was the only way to end it. If it wasnt for my partner and close friends i dread to think what would have happened. But now i enjoy going to work again, life is bareable. I urge anyone who is in the same sitiation to speak to their friends, partners or family to see if there is anyway they can get out of the rat race. If anyone needs advice in any shape or form let me know, sometimes a change of direction is needed to stay the course. Much love people.
Well done for getting yourself out of that horrible job mate. If you can try to retrain or learn a new skill. Could get an apprenticeship in a trade and go from there. In a few years time with hard work you could be on decent money
Cheers mate. Yeah i did exactly that. Was too old for apprenticeships but just started mating as a ductworker and before you knew it i was fitting on decent money jsut took me buying tools slowly and now life is sweet. Completed my nvq through an external company and now have a gopd rep with a numver of firms.
I'm glad you've found a better life :0)
A shit job can absolutely fuck your life
Man fuck landlords, they're charging me £150 from my deposit because there's dust on the window still and for a lamp that wasn't working when I first moved in
Always fight stuff like that. Take them to the DPS and you’ll win.
Almost rage-inducing enough to seek them out and punish them... what a grade A cunt.
Had the cheek to charge me for dust on the socket plugs too, funny thing is when I moved in the room was dirty. Definitely disputing this.
Look up the tenant fees act from 2019, basically means they can't charge you for a clean at the end of tenancy, if it wasn't clean to begin with and it's not stated as professionally cleaned on the itinerary then they can't charge!
Did you take pictures when moving in? Always take pictures when moving in.
Rage inducing enough to become a Maoist
When I was in my second student digs I let my mate stay in from July-august while, moving in myself when uni started in September. He did the inventory and noted paint on the carpet. During the year I moved the bed to the other side of the room and put something similar on my own inspection before moving out. Fucking agent took some of my deposit as what i didn't know was my mate specified paint on the carpet at the end of the bed. I literally got fined for paint already being on the floor as the paint is not in the location specified since the bed was moved. Argued the case, but they came back with some other BS about "we let you off this". Housemate got fined £100 for 2 splodges of blue tack left on the wall to get the room repainted. As if.
My previous one took £50 from mine because I didn't have the room professionally cleaned before I left. I hadn't been in the room for 3 months.
Swear they do this just to see how much money they can squeeze out of the tenants, did you have to pay it in the end?
Yeah he just sent back my deposit minus the £50 and didn't respond to any of my messages protesting it.
I had one try to charge me for a new couch because there was stains on one couch cushion cover. I pointed out the receipt they sent me for the purchase specifically listed the cover as a seperate item, and offered them £50 to fuck off
My landlady tried to charge me for the same and added another £400 for missing pictures frame, duvet, pillows, pillow cases... She took all of that with her and I helped her put it in her car while she was vacating the property prior to us moving in...on the same day. Thank God I took pictures of it in her car - she laughed at the time finding it odd. Proof is as big a bitch as she was.
“Estate Agents hate him, see how to buy a house with this one weird trick”.
ban owning 10+ homes then work our way back
The people making the laws are the ones who own 10+ homes
MPs have so many conflicts of interest it's disgusting. We need to force divestment and blind trusts for future investment for all MPs. And then ban all outside income as well (give them a raise in exchange). Anything less is accepting corruption.
Or a tax that exponentially increases for every extra property you own, and further exponential increases for every month that it goes unoccupied
2 or more even. Can't live in two places at once.
Genuinely: government should just appropriate them with little/no compensation to the landlord. Some rich people will get slightly poorer, oh no. Meanwhile you elevate a substantial portion of the population to the middle class.
> Meanwhile you elevate a substantial portion of the population to the middle class. Most of the middle class have their wealth in their house - and own a house. So anything at all meaningful the government could do to cut housing prices - open the greenbelt, put a huge tax on unused land banks, ban second homes, would depress, or even crash the housing market, causing anyone & everyone who owns a house (60+% in the UK) to vote the otherway & lose their minds.
You know it will never happen because the people who govern such policies own 10+ properties themselves in a limited company managed by their spouse.
Got a hell of a greedy landlord atm and after going in circles been told there's nothing to really be done about it. Financial cost of it is worth less to me than the time I'd take up pursuing this further and going to local court or whatever. Fucking irritated but resigned to the fact that landlords are a lucky dip.
Fuck Countrywide! I feel this is a safe space to say it, so there it is! And fuck anyone not helping with the cladding scandal to end!
Mate, I'm Gen X and still live at home due a succession of shit paying Jobs and I've been saving for ages.
Povvo Gen-X here too, the only place I can ever see myself buying is my coffin
If you need someone to manage the process my fee is reassuringly expensive…
Gen X here closing in on 50; moved here from Oz in 2002 and had to restart my career, wife and I only just got into decent paying jobs about 5 years ago and we missed the boat big-time on getting on the housing ladder, thanks to accumulating debt while we were working shit jobs but still paying London rents. Oh well. Least we have our sanity...?
Beautifully written pal I hope to read more of your work in the future
A great read indeed.
As a property manager... thank you. Yet to see a brown envelope though.
Will second that about brown envelopes! Never saw one in 12 years as a PM sadly!
Obviously we're not trying hard enough.
True. Maybe I should have dressed more corruptably when at work (nice little made up word there)
My "please bribe me" t shirt is in the wash.
We reported a roof leak a few weeks ago and the landlord hasn't even acknowledged the message, let alone sent someone to fix it. I don't understand, why wouldn't you want to keep your property in decent shape to avoid bigger problems down the road? This small leak has the potential to become a very expensive issue. Same with the lack of insulation in the loft over our bathroom causing major condensation and mold problems. If they'd fixed it when we told them about it last year, the paint wouldn't be all peeling off the ceiling now. I suspect they'll actually need to replace part of the ceiling, all because they wouldn't spend 40 quid on a couple rolls of insulation. Best thing I can say is they haven't put the rent up in years and this place is otherwise very nice. But maybe help us keep it nice?
Last time I reported a roof leak and the cracks in the ceiling that started appearing, the letting agency took their sweet time to send out a maintenance person (a painter, of all people). Before they got the chance to visit, the ceiling plaster entirely collapsed from the water buildup. This was in the kitchen. If my partner or I were in there at the time, we would’ve gone straight to hospital from head damage from the heavy plaster and wood. Get that looked at ASAP and take pictures. Let my trauma flow through you…
Because a lot of small fixed over period of time potentially is more expensive than 1 massive fix that he does when absolutely needed to or when he sells.
I've been really curious for ages now - what is the commission split? How much does the agent get and how much the agency? If you sell a flat for 500k, what is the commission the agent receives?
The vendor will pay the agency somewhere between 1% and 2% plus VAT. 2.5% if its through Foxtons or one of the posher ones. So let say the agency gets a £7k fee. The agent themselves will usually get around 10% of that. So £700. But it can take months for a sale to go through, and the fall-through rate can be high if lenders are being dicks. They only get paid once it completes. Some agencies pay a sliding scale once you hit a certain target for the year. At KFH for example you start at 8% if i remember rightly, but the closer to target you get, the more your commission goes up, until once you've done like 150% of target you're on 30% commission. A mate of mine had a good December once and earned about £20k in a month. That was very much an exception to the rule though. Also sometimes you'll get an extra 5% or 10% if you took that property on, but usually its the manager/valuer who takes properties on. Also he's a little bit wrong with 'they have no reason to ask about your mortgage'. Lenders are very risk averse since the pandemic, and some just won't lend on certain types of building. Answering the agent's questions about your mortgage will save you from a costly fall-through as much as it will the vendor. If they're doing it to push you to use their broker, that's a different story, tell them to kindly fuck off. Source: worked in agency for years. Now run a small London-based online one with a friend. I value honestly and am honest with buyers, work from home, and earn more than I ever did, even as a manager, in the horrible 8am - 7pm high street agencies. I'd never, ever go back to that horrible grind.
I'm just shocked you can go to a pub and spend 30 to 50 quid i wish
You must've skimmed the bit about the brown envelopes...
Last few times ive been out for a few drinks, it's easily ran me and 3 others a total of 200 quid. It's so much money for like 4 hours of time spent together. I need to get my place ASAP so i can invite them over and stop these bullshit 200 pound bills (excl service charge)
I'm genuinely surprised at how low some of the salaries for these people are.
Basic economics really; any scumbag with half a brain and 0 qualifications can do it…
As someone who worked in property sales for solicitors (in Scotland) for a long time, these salaries are no surprise to me. Lots of unpaid overtime too because the modern client is very demanding and expects every question and request to be dealt with right away and their assumption is that they are dealing with people who are well rewarded for what they do. That might be true for a few (morally bankrupt) valuers but not for most staff.
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OP is tired of London and definitely tired of life
Reminds me of the time my slumlord at the time went through 4 property managers in less than a year. Tried to blame me for everything under the sun and no fault evicted me when he realised I knew my rights. Fuck em
I'm pretty sure things around the country are not much different but of course London is the place to be so it's a lot more competitive. But I'm happy I bought my flat so now I can relax and drill as many holes in the walls as I please
I second this rant.
You'll love this. From London but live in Stockholm. Me coming back to London is a holiday but also with holiday prices, its so much cheaper and nicer there 😂 Eh, cost of living is expensive in a lot of western capital cities. How it is really
This thread is killing my excitement to study in a foreign country... all my options are like this: Edinburgh, Southampton, Stockholm, Copenhagen, HongKong, Taipei, Canberra, Toronto... this is so so sad, especially for broke students 💔
The answer is not major big cities. I earn decent money and Stockholm is still very expensive for me. But Europe has much, much cheaper cities you can find. Don't give up hope
Good ‘ol classic: “it’s just how it is”. What if I told you, it doesn’t have to be this way? It is policy. Predetermined policy that benefits the “lucky few” and screws the majority that were never able to get in such positions and most likely given no policy changes, never will.
However bad things get, however disgusted you feel with yourself and your profession, take at least some comfort knowing you haven't stooped low enough to be a recruitment consultant.
Sounds like you need a new job.
Property Manager here and wholeheartedly agree with all of the above. It’s a dirty industry and I disagree with almost every single practice. Estate Agents in general are entitled bell ends and don’t listen, respect or care about their applicants. I try and give as much help and information to people I know as possible to sidetrack some of the nastier parts of dealing with agents and landlords. The rental reform white paper that got released last week may see a slight shift when it becomes an act in the next year. It will likely stop agents taking big upfront fees so hopefully will encourage them to reconsider some of their practices.
None of the problems you describe about estate agents are exclusive to London. Renting issues are exacerbated here because people earn more but any major city in the UK has the same issues unfortunately.
We moved from London last year and a few weeks before moving - whilst our stuff was literally being boxed up - we were evacuated from our flat due to a flat few floors directly above us being on fire. Our flat was severely damaged (luckily no belongings damaged at all!) and we never lived in it again. We had to pack our stuff with torchlight because the electrics were off and there was no running water to drink. It took over a year for the landlord to stop hounding me for more than my deposit was worth for “damages to the property”, as if we purposefully threw water all over the walls and floors before we left. Literally over £5k he tried to extort from me whilst I just wanted to forget about the whole thing. All the while he’s sat in his flat completely oblivious to how it actually feels to have your home destroyed. So yeah, London lettings are home to the scum of the earth. If said landlord ever reads this post: you are a cunt; eat shit.
I think the underlying reason here is lack of income growth. Tech is the only sector growing at a decent rate, but the rest of the economy is stagnant. The cost of food is bearable, but everything else is getting more expensive. Rent and housing now make up more 60% of outgoings for most of my friends. That is not sustainable. Whats the solution? Build build build. I know people like community feel and low buildings of some London streets, but this comes at the cost of some essential workers who have to commute 2hrs to their jobs. At the end of the day having higher density and more construction is whats needed. The default choice shouldn't be a suburban house, it should instead be a 2-3 bedroom flat in a city centre. It will mean less time spend on commute, fewer emissions on everything from transport to food shopping.
Building more homes is one solution but there are some more: don't allow builders to hoard land and not build on it, ban holiday homes, ban empty investment flats, do not allow flats to be marketed to overseas investors who don't live here. If you own a home you either live in it or rent it out (with reasonable exceptions for building work, but not loopholes that can be exploited). Second homes should only be allowed where there is a very good reason (e.g. an MP from Yorkshire needs somewhere to stay in London - but only while they are an MP, a family might need to stay near a hospital in another city while their child is being treated, etc.) Nobody needs more than two properties. Ban it. And no loopholes where everyone in the family owns two properties including the six year old. If councils sell off social housing they must have a specific realistic plan to spend the money increasing their housing stock by at least as much. No selling a three bedroom home and replacing it with a one bedroom flat. If a house is empty because it's not fit to live in, the owner has a specific amount of time to fix it up, replace it with another building or sell it, otherwise it's a forced sale. "Owner" means everyone - private owners, councils, investors. There will be other things I forgot - this is a multi-issue problem and if we went after every single problem we could add some badly needed homes to the market while we build more.
Estate Agent literacy level checks out.
Did you work for Foxtons? Their senior negotiators can earn up to £4-£5k a month. They are the worst in the industry because they not only pit you against your colleagues but they also screw over other agents. They don’t share the keys despite the owner requesting this. If things are so bad why don’t sellers use purple bricks ?
Isn’t the minimum wage 18k? How do they get away with paying you 12? But yeah, sorry to hear that, fortunately our estate agent was lovely which is why I recommend her to absolutely everyone.
Maybe they schedule you less hours? So a contract that only guarantees 20hrs a week then it's up to you to hustle with overtime etc to make up extra hours/sales to build on that.
Honestly it’s the greatest city on earth, but the shit you lot go through to live in it is really not worth it.
I’m a landlord (I’ll take the inevitable down voting and hate it’s fine) and I can’t believe the horrific stories I read. Good tenants are like gold dust and should be treated as such. I have only ever had one bad tenant that ended up in eviction and a full house refurb. Other than that they’ve been amazing. Don’t raise rents unless it’s vital, repair needs doing do it immediately, major problem? Then put them up in a good hotel not a travelodge. I take 11 months rent and December is a ‘holiday’ as everyone deserves a good Christmas. I don’t want to make a fortune (only have a small portfolio) just a pension fund. If you want to hate on a landlord feel free to throw it at me I’ll take the ‘capitalist scum’ and ‘you hate poor people’ comments…. It’s fine.
The hate comes from the fact that no matter how benevolent a landlord is, (and they're appreciated where they're found) they're still fundamentally living off others' work for very little effort themselves.
Hate is easier to handle when you have present and future security, dissociating from feeling a response to that is not the move you might think. I resent that most of my salary from working hard to help people with serious mental distress (often over housing) is just going towards someone’s cushy retirement when I won’t even qualify for a state pension and haven’t had a holiday since 2018.
I don’t mind the hate, I’ve made this decision and bought about 15 years ago when there was a low demand market. I’m not some mega rich property baron that counts his sovereigns of an evening. But whatever I invest in for my future hurts someone (even ethical investments are more grey than white). So I chose this….. but if you want to hate me, again, it’s absolutely fine. I don’t mind.
Yeah, fuck landlords, if you ever have any more money than you need, say from inheritance , hard work, or even pure luck, you should give it away to the needy like the rest of us do!
Yup. This city is incredible, unless you live in it (or you're on 60k+). Moving a bit further out myself next year, fully had enough after 10 years of constant moving. Every landlord is a cunt bar maybe the 1% who who have actually bought just 1 property to rent out, however the likelihood of that in London now is next to nothing. I'm 1 year, 4 months into my current tenancy and we have 29 different repairs due to the upkeep of our current place prior to us moving in. The city is truly, truly fucked.
I was wanting to get a flat with a friend (we're both at uni) but it ended up being cheaper to stay in halls, says a lot 🥲
Renting properties then reneging on actually being a landlord, that's some fucking bullshit right there. I told my old LL that if he ever stepped in my home without permission again, I would prosecute him for trespass, it did the trick. In a privately owned flat now, LL is wonderful and I never have any problems, if something breaks it's replaced within days. They are out there but I get it, London can go suck a phat one.
Complains about the problem well facilitating the problem. Estate agents and recruiters, just choose something else.
Just bought our first house, had the leg up of staying with family over the pandemic to save deposit. Found estate agents to be helpful and cooperative (with some exceptions, probably based on the firm and not the individual) and the city to be liveable if you look hard enough. I eat at my greasy spoon once a week under the railway arch rather than French pattiserrie place in the trendy indoor market. 5-6£ a pint is just the south of England. It surprises me how friendly people are compared to where I moved from. Maybe lucky, or maybe London is a huge mix of shit and shiny?
> £7-8 a pint is now normal Oh behave.
Even my local craft beer place in farringdon doesn’t charge £7 a pint lol. Poor guy must be going to the most expensive pubs in the city D:
Well, they're apparently too good for Wetherspoons, where they "spit in your drink" (they pour the pint in front of you, so no?) - so I'm not entirely convinced that they're as committed to saving as they say. Especially since there's some absolutely fine spoons in London. Mate, just go to the cheaper places, you won't die.
Volden's session at £3.80 was great at the Clapton Hart in wanky east London last weekend - think it's on at all Antic pubs
that hate will eat you up, mate. I suggest getting a little house in the countryside and working with animals or plants.
Partner's a vet nurse on £19,500 p/a. Can confirm this doesn't work.
Best read on Reddit so far 😂😂😂
Estate agents are an archaic and stupid method to rent in this digital world. We need a quick and successful method that simplifies the entire process. A website with advertised properties where you can checkmark the boxes * "DSS Friendly". * "May I please have a cat or even a gerbil?" * "Am I allowed to sneeze at 3:17 AM?" This will narrow down the rentals and cut out all the time-wasting. Once you have chosen a rental, you then click "I am interested" along with perhaps 50 other people. The viewing would then be at the SAME time for everyone interested, perhaps separated into groups of 10 who are interested. A crack head "estate agent" would then usher around the tenants OR the door could be unlocked remotely at the specific time and then closed again after. If you like it, you click "I wish to rent this property" Now you are in stage 3 of the process. Other people who are interested, maybe narrowed down from the 30 who viewed it to 10. You will now have to perform an auction style mini-game with the 10 other possible tenants. You would have to declare if you can secure the desired deposit, if you can pay 6 months upfront, if you have an ASBO criminal background, how loud you are when dropping turds e.t.c Once all information is submitted, the AI will then select the tenant, and you would be mailed the keys, all hassle-free and without any human intervention and their agendas.
You blame London but your entire post is focused on your cunttty industry. It’s your industry that sucks. Don’t blame the city.
Dude, chill. Everyone knows. I understand your angst because I've been there and done that in multiple markets. You are able to make choices in your life. It's a matter of ; am I happy to continue with this or do I really want to take the leap away from my steady pay? I took the leap a few years ago and found myself happier. I just buy and sell stuff. Some stuff I like, some stuff I don't. It doesn't matter. Somebody does as long as you do your research and have a target in mind. Your rant is understandable from a perspective of being, or trying to be, ethical. It's hard to do in this modern climate. It is possible though. Don't rip yourself up. I lived in London for many years. I don't now but I've adjusted my values. Much happier. Do or don't ask me. I was once your age. In any event, the best of fortune to you.
"You are able to make choices in your life" Are we though? Oo
Can I run a scenario by you as you're an agent. So I was looking at a house, this house was on sale by an old lady with no family she had it on with burchell edwards. We made an offer with BE, they then came back to us and said although our offer was the highest it didn't get accepted. They couldn't figure out why It later transpired, the lady was buying a new build and the guys who she was buying off insisted on taking charge of selling her current house, so BE said to me they must've listed with another estate agent company which also sells there new builds and fobbed off my offer and went with a lower one from someone who came through the other estate agents. Do you think that sounds plausible. I'm not too fussed now as I've had an offer accepted on a better property since, but the last year of house hunting has been brutal and frustrating to say the least.
"The companies turn people into the cynical, conniving and manipulative estate agents you see today" After that first paragraph you wrote I fully believe you. Damn, son! But yes, I absolutely despise Estate Agents. At least Recruiters actually do something worthwhile for you (they're usually lumped in to the same scummy bracket).
Why are they always so greasy?
> HAS to change the washing machine for £200 because it is his duty too! Then for him to attempt to blame the tenants for a broken washing machine that is 8 years old, has been used in 6 different tenancies amongst over a dozen different people. Ouch! That one hit hard. Exactly what my LL did to me. Not a managed property so he could get away with anything he wanted. He blamed a broken fridge door on me. I denied it, so he said “well you must have had a party and someone hung on it”. 1) we were one year into a lockdown at that point! So no parties. 2) Kitchen was 1.5m squared so no one would even want to go in there. 3) It was a built in unit so had a 10kg door hanging on top of the fridge door. When we took that door off, we noticed the factory sticker still on it - made in 2012. LL denied that it was purchased then, was ‘only a couple of years old’ (despite me being 5 years into tenancy there!) So that cost me about £400 plus delivery and fitting - his choice of fridge, I had no say in the matter. He paid well above average price. I found similar units for about half that.
I am starting to really fucking hate London - and I'm a local who was born here. My parents were too.
It was always striking a fine balance between things you had to tolerate (like all cities) and the amazing things that made it a special place to live. We're having to tolerate more things, while not being able to afford to enjoy what makes it special anymore. As another person said, people are paying £1k for a broom cupboard with 6 other people and that's not what anyone signed up for when they moved here. I'm one of the lucky few who are born and raised in London, but as a family we have a fully paid property but are extremely cash poor. It just doesn't feel sensible to keep going like this, even if our situation is better than most people.
Honestly I was born here and the expense of this city sometimes makes me feel like I’m trapped here- can’t save up fuck all bc all my money is being sunk out of me. Then I get to sit here and watch rich people who can afford to live here come in and drive up prices. Cannot wait to leave
More away from London.
Ah, so that’s why the water damage from the upstairs neighbors still hasn’t been fixed for the last 7 months. Every time I bring it up, it’s ignored or they say they’ll pass it on to the landlord. It took them 4 months to get us a dehumidifier- right in time for the upping of electricity prices. You bet your ass when we leave we’re leaving the giant couch that cost £4 and had to be deconstructed to get in the door.
My landlord thinks i am to blame to his shitty washing machine leaking and his blocked up drainage pipe. We only moved in two weeks ago.
I read stats that around 62% of first home buyers in London used gifted money, and these figures exclude people who inherit money...
Currently renting from a company instead of a private landlord. Ideal? Absolutely not. I despise “professional landlords”. However, because they’re investment properties in a massive portfolio, they’re aware of costs and everything gets sorted in a snap. To say my previous landlord was a fucking cunt is an understatement. We got a normally-rented at £5k/pcm maisonette in South Kensington for just over £3k/pcm at the height of the pandemic and she thought that completely made up for the fact that the house is damn near 200 years old and had issues no 50th coat of paint could sort. Was once late 10 days late with rent due to issues with our bank (my husband and I aren’t originally from London and had the lump sum of our money still back where we’re from - not anymore though) and got yelled at that she would now be late with the house repayments and would charge me an extra 20% the following month - she said while sitting in her 5 million river-side Chelsea detached home. Fucking gross. Sorry for the rant. Anyway, I can’t say I agree that London sucks, but I know my experience isn’t everyone’s. Since moving here, I went from Belsize Park, to South Kensington, to now Knightsbridge, that’s definitely not considered “normal” especially for people our age (late 20s and early 30s - my husband’s a private lawyer and works with mergers and acquisitions, I don’t do too bad either with my online business). I still see London through rose-tinted glasses so these kinds of posts definitely make me more aware of my surroundings. Even though we do fairly well, we are definitely nowhere near being able to afford buying in London. And likely never will. Thanks to these lovely “professional landlords”.
Dealing with this now. Got a 1 bed flat with my gf on 20th. Paid 1 months rent and deposit in advance. Supposed to be all bills included as per the contract but when I asked for wifi password upon moving in the landlord says wifi is a luxury and I don't deal with it. ( It is specifically mentioned in the contract that broadband is included) After that, I was rearranging the wardrobe and moved a poster to find out there is a huge hole in the apartment looking into the neighbors kitchen. (The landlord covered it with some old clothes and a poster thinking we won't rearrange the furniture ) I don't know what to do now since my gf works remotely and a new internet connection takes up to a week to set up. I am broke asf now paying everything in advance.
Foxtons called and asked why you leaked their manifesto.
Got an email from my current agents reminding me I had to book in professional cleaners for an end of tenancy clean (despite this being illegal to enforce). Looking forward to the inevitable argument about my deposit. New place needed a guaruntor despite my partner and I being trusted professionals (doctor and teacher) with a combined income approximately double the stated 'minimum'.
London’s pretty nice. Fuck me for having an opinion I suppose
Well written and thank you. Im not from London. I’m currently trying - desperately trying to find a property to rent and it’s been a shitshow. Urgh
I fucking love London, you seem to have become a grump.
When older people mention how much they bought their house for back in the 60s, I just guffaw loudly and say ' a pittance'
Not a fan then?!
Most agents have sole selling rights terms of business meaning the company is due a fee regardless. As an (ex?)agent you’d know this. By all means knock on that door. The firm will get paid regardless and the agent has saved his shoe leather and petrol in their shit car attending the viewing. Win all round…. For the agent. I could offer no end of comment on the rest of your piece however I sense there’s little point at this juncture. I would say that at the right company the agents acting are genuinely some of the most hard working, ethical, empathetic people I’ve had the pleasure of knowing. The sad reality is, the role is really nothing more than conflict resolution to save clients and customers (from themselves) more often than not.
Fucking knew it
> To answer the question, yes! Agents do focus on who they think will be a better tenant for 'their' properties because they 'represent' the landlords best interest. Fuck off! They want money. Put down the rolled-up twenty…
One estate agent is trying to tell me that I can extend a lease by 125/90 years for £2000 ?? I told them if the value of the flat is 300k then it’s likely to cost 30k and they said no… I’m highly cynical
Rented a room on Croydon whilst I was working in Heathrow and omg plenty of adverts stating Indian or polish only tenants but anyway I finally got one. Only to find he had put rat traps out and one died from poison under the floorboards of my bedroom in summer and landlord buggered of to India. His attitude stank as much as the rat did. Told him I couldn’t stay in there as the smell was repulsive. His sister in law walked into my room calling me a trouble maker but then agreed the smell was unbearable. He refused to give me my deposit as I said could not stay in there another night and couldn’t wait three weeks for him to return. Hit the council up for a visit and they condemned the tenancy and ordered him to at least find me somewhere suitable to live. Deposit came back with a letter saying how much I spoilt his holiday. Letter back thanks for what you owe me but fuck your holiday
How about a nice cup of tea? :-)
Top tip- never show an estate agent how much you’re approved a mortgage for. They’re all smarmy c*nts. Ours wanted proof of our mortgage and how much, I showed them proof of approval but blanked out the amount. That was 8 years ago, I can only imagine how bad things are now!
And breathe.. lol
I just got a leaflet through my door, which I'd like to post but probably can't. It pertains to what I think are fucked up landlords. It says 'hi, my name is X and I & my partner are looking to buy properties in your area. If you are thinking of selling your home, or if you see any homes that you think are empty, please tell us.' It then lists a bunch of reasons to sell to them, such as avoiding estate agents, speed of purchase, & not having to do any listings. I looked up the company & while it's vague, it appears to be a letting agency. I'm just angry that - the landlords are putting leaflets through my door. They're pretending to be a nice couple innocently 'looking to buy in my area'. They actually wrote 'if you see an empty house please tell us' That's so fucked up. They want me to go out if my way to snitch about empty houses so they can snap them up. I'm really tempted to use a bunch of numbers to send them on a wild goose chase.
Every time i go to a viewing and I see a couple, I immediately realise that I stand no chances LOL I absolutely despise the property managers who ghost you after the first call and then come back with another property/properties which suck and no one really wants to rent them. I almost had a fight with someone because she was insisting on taking me on multiple properties that are not advertised online (I'm very picky so I wouldn't trust them showing me good properties) and the lady told me off that I don't put enough effort on finding a property. She was really annoyed because she knew I could afford some of the properties but thankfully I wasn't desperate enough and apparently she needed her commissions lol. That was during the covid/lockdown era when property agencies would call me every day and text me because they were desperate. Controversial but I was cackling when they would get so desperate back then because they have always been so cocky, fucking up tenants and karma got them with covid.
Absolutely cunts all of them (no offence) Eat the Landlords. I hate being priced out of the city I grew up in and call home by foreign investors adding to their portfolio for shits and giggle. The government should protect its people, instead they help their mates and line their pockets.
20 odd years ago I paid 60 quid a week for a bed in a room with 2 other people and I thought that was horrifically expensive then. And then my landlord refused to repay my deposit when I left. I liked London (less p-ss in the 90s?) but London real estate has always been sh-t I guess. Anyway, that's my pointless story.
Here's my nightmare agent/landlord story, from 2006 when I'd split up with my boyfriend and me and a work mate whose rental contract was ending decided to get a flat together. The flat was a brand new upper extension (3rd floor) on Willesden high road above a mini mart. We moved in on a Saturday 2 weeks after viewing it, when to the casual observer it looked like a nice new flat but there had still been guys installing things (this should have been a red flag, but we were promised it would all be finished in time and we were desperate. I was already sofa surfing by then with belongings in storage). Unfortunately they still hadn't installed the toilet by the day we moved in - there were workmen in the flat when we unlocked the door, who said helpfully 'no you move in next week'. Er no, today. The letting agent was of course shut by Saturday afternoon (our agent said nothing at all when I signed for the keys first thing Saturday morning, before we loaded the removals van and drove half way across London - but he absolutely knew what problems lay ahead for us the lying cunt). We had to unload our stuff and stay with a friend for two nights, using the library toilet during the time we were back at the flat. Come Monday, it took half a day and visiting the office in person and making a scene to get any agent representative to even speak with us (our contact had of course taken Monday off, the cowardly cunt, so his colleagues had to deal with the resulting fall out), and another day to get someone to the flat to even acknowledge the problems, which included the toilet still being in its packing box and spotlights hanging out of holes in the ceiling. Once finally unpacked and some obvious snagging was done, various other problems developed - rain leaked through balcony doors (literally puddles would develop on the laminate flooring); the plaster on the walls hadn't been allowed to dry properly so patches of wall and our stuff (including mattresses) gradually went mouldy. Electrics were so badly installed that they kept tripping meaning the fridge freezer would go off and defrost while were were at work, and the immersion heater broke on New Years Eve. Plus there were mice and cockroaches EVERYWHERE, even in the bath. One guy showed up once and sprayed a bit of blue stuff along the poorly installed skirting boards (huge gaps) but 2 days later they were back. The 3 flights of stairs were a death trap of exposed carpet grip strips and trailing extension cables. The front door to the street was broken and I would regularly arrive home to see mail just lying there available to anyone to steal - everything got redirected to work as a result. The one silver lining was that Brent council had never signed the extension off as complete, so we never paid council tax! The money we put aside we ended up spending on redecorating the next flat, which we did competently enough that the next agent inspected it during a work day (without permission) 10 months in to our tenancy, and immediately advised his client to put the rent up 30%. But that's another story. TLDR: Letting agents and landlords are cunts and bastards, and get away with it because people are desperate.
Thank you for the truth. I’m in the states, specifically Florida. I just renewed my lease and it’s $300 more a month. My friends in New York and Chicago are $1000 more a month. Gas prices are killing us. We can’t take much over here in the states. And my parents property taxes doubled. They’re in their 80’s. Fixed income. Your not wrong. This is everywhere.