Sky high rent, sinks crumbling off walls and shower heads ‘bubbling’ with grime: The nightmare of being a young, private renter in London right now
Sky high rent, sinks crumbling off walls and shower heads ‘bubbling’ with grime: The nightmare of being a young, private renter in London right now
14 comments
Add to the list: brighton
I spoke to the agency cause she tried to move tenants in before I was due to leave. I explained the leaking sewage from the ceiling, the lack of hot water, the leaky pipes, the rotten walls, the disintegrating bath tub frame etc. And demonstrated that she’d lied about the pictures of the flat . (She had recentl pics, but uploaded pics from 2005 that looked nothing like the flat now)
They said sounds like it’s not a safe place to live. The next day they’d agreed with a new tenant on a let. I asked the boiler engineer if she was gonna get the boiler fixed, and they said no, just safety certificate (since it’s 4 years since last and they need to see valid one to let it out)
And this was an agency with really good reviews. They’ll really take anything.
Now got me a flat with hot water and no water damage. Very excited
Leave for the love of god leave. Currently sat in a 6 bed house I own, yes my salary took a hit I actually have more cash to play with after expenses now
It’s not just London, it’s a whole England problem. The greed of the wealthy few will never be stopped. They will kill us all 1st.
Cornwall is just as bad, the last place I lived was literally falling apart. No hot water, windows that didn’t shut, floors that sagged, fire escapes so rusted they couldn’t be walked on, rodents, mould and frequent power cuts. It took more than a year and a half to find another rental in my town because it’s expensive and everything is AirB&B’s or second homes or student living. And I can’t move out of this town because it’s where all my support is. I’d imagine lots of people have similar issues of little money and not wanting to move away from their support.
Being young is basically a crime
“Why are you renting, just buy a house” – literally every person I’ve worked with ever.
Why would anyone want to live in London. Don’t get it.
There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can’t take part! You can’t even passively take part! And you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels … upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you’ve got to make it stop!
Mario Savio.
Reminds me of renting a flat that had a cracked floor and a wall and it was slowly collapsing. I think it was only held together by rebars.
I reported this to the agency that I feel unsafe, but they said it’s been like that for years and has not collapsed…
Let’s not mention a hole in the wall in the bathroom going straight to the neighbours bathroom. I discovered it when rodents bit through the thin MDF board covering it.
I kept living in it because it was relatively cheap for the area.
Oh and the agency didn’t want to pay the deposit back, fortunately they didn’t keep it in the scheme, so a strongly worded letter that I will report them got me my deposit back in an hour.
Until all landlords are held to account and suitably punished for renting out property like this, nothing will change. There is still so much money to be made by renting out accommodation that no landlord would ever willingly live in themselves. People are just that desperate.
I’ll balance this highly negative comment section (if that’s even possible in this shithole sub of whiners) by saying I rented all through my 20s and in to my early 30s, double rooms with or without ensuites from anywhere between £410 a month in Devon and £625 a month near London. I’ve rented in Exeter, Reading, Wycombe, Woking, Guildford, following FTC work. Almost all private, once with a rental company which was the biggest ball ache of hassles for paperwork etc. I now live in my own place I bought 2 years ago.
Not once have I had a bad experience of things breaking or mould or anything. Never been screwed over on deposit returns, never had any issues anywhere with anyone other than loud flatmates being assholes. Had one electric shower stop working, it was replaced the next day.
“The showerhead is gross” is just symptimatic of people NOT CLEANING THE PLACE AS RENTERS. It’s not rocket science. You all whine about conditions but you renters cause the conditions in the first place.
Legislation to make homes fit for humans was voted down by the current government..
It’s going to be a long uphill battle for renters. I’ve rented all my life and I can remember the properties where I felt safe and had great communication with the landlord/agency on one hand.. Easily 25 years of renting and moving around the country a lot. I’ve probably moved at a minimum once a year.
The only good thing I like living in the north is the housing is relatively affordable.
just got told by my employer that i can either pick 90 day accomodation and 3k bonus or live in a rent property and get 9k bonus. since i am buying my own flat, they told me i wont receive anything. :z got recruited on basis that id get a relocation package but nowhere it said or stated i need to rent in order to get the bonus. wtf are these monkeys in HR doing.