So as some of you may know I'm down on my university placement year in good old 'nothing to do' littlehampton. I am living in a couple's spare room, and there are 2 others like me, for the 'measly' sum of £90PW!!!

I know I am safe posting this here because this man may fancy himself as a DIYer but so far he has not shown any competence whatsoever, especially building a car. I'll explain later on.

So I'm no spring chicken when it comes to short term memory but I've forgotten to wash the odd baking tin, knife etc after cooking. After relaxing up thinking about going to bed I hear his door fling open and go down stairs for his millilitre of wine and can of coke and through the 1mm thick plasterboard (told you he was bad at DIY!) I hear him say an almighty "LAZY F***ER".

Now I've never used swearing against someone (computers? that's a different story!) and I think that is just horrible to do so, but going this far from forgetting to wash up? I'd hate to hear what he calls someone who refuses to do it...

He can go from this state one day to having an awkward half hour talk in the kitchen, and because I was brought up by my parents to be courteous I humour him but to be truthful I'm starting to hate the very site of him.

So today was 'room inspection day', WTF? Has anyone else here lived in a spare room? Did they have to put up with this? I haven't had any outbursts cause I know this is probably the cheapest way of living but oh my god I have never met such uninviting people in my life. They even wrote 'easy-going' on the advert! He couldn't wait to point out just about every person who lived here that they did not get along with, obviously twisting the story because you can just tell the people who do that, because they are always right...

The main 'selling point' he keeps referring to is the sky TV, but I must admit, even this does not seem worth the hassle for this guy's over-active mortgaged ego, "because I was a lodger once upon a time you see and I was not allowed in the TV room" back in the old days blah blah blah. As I mentioned earlier the walls are 1cm think plasterboard, I can hear the guy next to me's tv as if there was no wall at all, every time he leans on the wall I hear a massive creak.

I misplaced my keys one day and I said I'm sorry, and before I could even say anything else about replacements he was on the 'money' front, this guy has two weeks rent as a deposit and he immediately thinks about money? I walked all the way to work, walking all the way along a busy single carriageway looking for the keys. This guy obviously does not care about housing people, he just want the fricken money! Oh and the keys? His wife picked them up, but didn't tell me...

Most of the time it feels like I'm a foster child, I'm renting a room, not a new set of parents, if I wanted to be told to tidy my room I would have stayed at home

I'm not trying to flame this guy, it is just obvious he does not have the correct attitude to have lodgers.

[/rant]

Maybe it's time to look elsewhere..

believe me I've looked , does anyone know what the average cost of leccy and gas is in a studio flat? I'd get the same amount of space as here, there is one going for £325pm not including internet or bills or anything but that would soon creep up, I'm not bothered with tv though, bunch of crap most of it.

You need to find a couple of mates quickly and rent a house between you.....

Once you become trapped in houses like this it just gets worse I,m afraid and consider your deposit lost, he will just exclaim that you did not give enough notice when you want to go, state the carpets and curtains need cleaning or some other excuse and rob you of it

Been there sorry.

quote:

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Originally posted by vanepico
believe me I've looked , does anyone know what the average cost of leccy and gas is in a studio flat? I'd get the same amount of space as here, there is one going for £325pm not including internet or bills or anything but that would soon creep up, I'm not bothered with tv though, bunch of crap most of it.

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You could try and all out charm offensive?

Buy him some wine and beer, apologise for your mistakes, then just slip in that every now and then you have the odd mishap, but because you like being here, you really don't want that to ruin the air and that all he needs to do is to come ask.

Just an idea. I wouldn't have the patience and would probably have given him a mouthful by now!

Well I'm barely ever in, I normally spend 11 hours at work a day, saving up for my first car you see, which is why I wanted to keep it cheap.

Quite liking this one, A because it is a live out landlord, and B bills are included.
Click

Downside I don't really want to stake my claim to a bit of fridge in a house with 9 other PEOPLE! Oh and it has parking

[Edited on 30/7/12 by vanepico]

All too familiar.

I have been there as an undergraduate, a postgraduate, a postdoctoral and while holding down various jobs. Landlords, regardless of whether it's a room, multi-occupancy house, a flat or a house, are simply after your money. They'll impose their own values, expectations, etc., upon you.

As a lodger (and even a contracted tenant), the law isn't with you. The blubberment has never properly addressed rights/security/privacy of any level of tenancy. The cynic inside me feels that it's because the greedy politicians are usually the landlords...

The 'experience' is to get you to want to buy a house, ensuring your slavery to the banksters for the rest of your overtaxed, monitored and questioned existence.

I found solice as a postdoc in the end, I squatted in one of the many empty absent houses around the town and lived discreetly in a van in an industrial estate. I then did a research fellowship in Sydney until the grant ran out.

My advice, get your qualification, get your ass out of this country.

I had a lovely landlady who rented me her converted garage. £50 a week in the middle of Cambridge, couldn't have got any better. The only requirement was that I put the dirty crocks in the dishwasher after I'd finished. I had my own little cupboard for groceries, a shelf in the fridge and freezer, and then whatever I wanted to do with the garage. The thing that shocked me the most was that she knocked and waited for me to say 'come in' before she came in.

I was actually a bit disappointed when my job took me off to Ipswich, I'd have been happy to stay there for much longer.

Apart from the fact the shower is not mounted to the wall (WTF?) if they were not here it would be ideal! Clear out the garage, get some tools in there!

I stayed in digs for a while when moving away from home to start with so can sympathise, however how can you "forget" to wash up after yourself?

The process is quite straight forward..... make food > eat food > wash dishes >put dishes away > relax. If you carry out the steps in the correct order without pause in between your life will be simple.

It's maybe alright to leave a sink full of dirty dishes when living in student accomodation (if you did it to me I'd heave them on your bed) but it's not OK once you enter the adult world.

Out of curiosity what do you think the right attitude to have lodgers is?

Cheers
Davie

Someone who isn't going to inspect the room every week? Being stuffed into a room, where you have to eat, sleep, watch tv and live it slipped my mind, that and I was engrosed in an american chopper marathon!

When I was younger I had a bedsit in a house with a woman with OCD! I went away for the weekend and came back and she has re arranged all my clothes in the draws into colour order! I thought it was a bit odd and then put them back how I wanted them went out to work the next day and when I came back I was told that she had put them back in the same order again and thats the way they had to stay! So I gave my notice there and then!

All I can say is it can be a nightmare in that situation but things do sometimes have a tendancey to sort themselves out, sometimes you just need a push to get you out of places like that.

Also, on the 'lazy effer' note, he is the one who gets his wife to drive him everywhere, and I cycle to work every day... I am not lazy, if anything I found that as offensive as the swearing.

Washing up takes barely any effort whatsoever, if I'd remembered I would've done it.

Oh screw it I'm off to get a takeaway.... I was doing so well with the moderately healthy eating!

I do sympathise. I became the free babysitter when I rented a room in Bristol. The hosts used to take my last slices of bread kept for my meals the next day, drink my last milk, eat anything from my areas in the cupnboards...

I think the worst thing though was sharing a toilet with so many others. Always felt so awkward and embarrassed if they needed the bathroom when I was in there and I'd always rush out if i thought I was inconveniencing them. They could take hours in there though....

In the end I used to spend most of my time in the local Asda. Honestly if they had sold beds I would have lived there instead....

Good luck!!

Hire the film Pacific Heights and watch it with him!

As others have said, it's pot luck but in my limited experience, living with live in land lords is rarely a good thing. Your much better of finding a friend or two and renting a place together, as equals, because from a live in's point of view you aren't.

Renting in general is all a massive con, It makes houses more expensive artificially and as said all the rules are in favour of the land lord in this country, and you get what I had in my last place where I was illegally forced out (They didn't contact me before the penultimate months rent had been paid, legally I should have been entitled to another month) and had to move house on the 7th of january, with less than 6 weeks to sort a place out.

£90 a week is what, £390 a month, and your a student so you don't have to pay council tax. I pay about £90 a month in utilities for a 3 bedroom house with three of us living here. Find yourself another student, and get your self a place, If you think they're going to nick your deposit, then don't tell them your going, just get all your stuff out then go back and give them the key.


It's not just renting, if your getting paid for something, then your not doing that person a favour, if anything it's the other way around.

the nice thing (which i miss actually) when your renting it is very easy to up sticks and move. if it were me i would find a new place and move asap. the deposit seems like the end of the world at the moment but its just one of those things you get over like everything in life

also

go to the university housing people they are well setup for dealing with situations like this. typically they will have a number of rooms available in halls for people in exactly your situation. if you say you feel unsafe they will jump through every hoop to get you out as the university are ultimately responsible for your pastoral care whilst away from home.

If I was still in pompey I would do that but being 20 miles down the road the halls are pretty useless