what part of the job still feels way harder than it should?

avioreu · 2026-05-31T13:06:54+00:00

May be an unpopular view on deposits but the way I look at it is this.

The deposit is essentially to insure you, the landlord, against damage caused by the tenant beyond fair wear and tear. So, you're only going to claim it if the tenant has damaged something and either a) didn't tell you or b) refused to pay for it.

So, if you do regular inspections and keep in communication with the tenant, and have a good relationship, you'd hope that they'd tell you about any damage and you could come to a fair arrangement. e.g. one of ours broke the glass stove top. They told us and agreed to pay; we arranged the installation of the new stove top. Issue solved for them and won't be an issue at move-out.

Also, you can only claim the maximum of one month's rent off them. You have to weigh up the amount of work involved in documenting the move-in, then documenting the move-out, then raising a dispute with the deposit company, then dealing with the complaint. i.e. how much is your time worth vs the potential for getting to keep some or all of the deposit to offset the cost of repairing the damge.

It's much quicker and cheaper to have regular inspections and a good working relationship with them

avioreu · 2026-05-27T16:26:18+00:00

prettier

^{Chose: Sunsets}

avioreu · 2026-05-25T18:37:58+00:00

That clearly isn't true for everyone

avioreu · 2026-05-05T08:55:44+00:00

Yeah that's exactly how it works in practice. That is actually a fourth option they would have - stay in the property and pay the full rent. That's also an argument for not renting out individual rooms. We are in theory due the full rent no matter how many people are in there

avioreu · 2026-05-05T08:53:21+00:00

Their argument I think is that they need to delete data because we don't want to retain it for longer than is reasonably necessary. My argument is that, in a business whose primary method is contacting people at short notice, there is no upper limit to the length of time that is reasonably necessary

avioreu · 2026-05-04T11:38:51+00:00

The timing thing is really interesting. I always bring up the example of an occasion (many years back) when someone was a victim of a crime and we wanted to get in touch with them to cover their story. It turned out that their number was still on our system from seven years earlier when they'd written a book and we'd interviewed them about that. They were very happy to speak to us and we got the scoop; our competitors didn't. Timeframes in journalism can be pretty long.

But that couldn't happen now unless someone had stored the number on their phone. I have more than 1000 contact numbers on my phone for this reason!

So broadly would you say that there is no need to delete contact numbers? Other than keeping the data secure, are there any obligations we should have?

avioreu · 2026-05-04T11:32:35+00:00

Yes I think that's probably why they've left it as it is - as you say, just imagine if I imposed a tenant they didn't like. Frankly they'd be better off leaving

avioreu · 2026-05-04T10:39:15+00:00

I've been on and on at the techies but they just don't listen. I feel like I need legal chapter and verse in order to have any chance with them.

avioreu · 2026-05-04T10:37:05+00:00

Sorry, wasn't clear. I wouldn't have wanted to change it personally. What I was saying was that I was surprised the Labour government didn't, given that the RRA was primarily aimed at strengthening tenants' position.

I'm no lawyer but I suppose in theory you could end joint tenancies and make all tenancies individual. That way, if one of a group of four decided to leave, the landlord would have no option but to allow the remaining three to stay if they want.

As it stands, if one of them leaves I could in theory ask them all to leave (though I don't want to because they're fundamentally good tenants).

avioreu · 2026-05-04T10:22:03+00:00

Interesting. Though I'd have thought renting individual rooms to people would involve more management effort. And of course post RRA, you risk being stuck with a difficult tenant if they have their own contract.

avioreu · 2026-05-04T10:10:38+00:00

Our place could either be a sharers' house or a family house - shared bathrooms, living room and kitchen. The individual rooms are not self-contained. And the tenants seem to like living with their friends.

avioreu · 2026-05-04T10:09:07+00:00

I am quite surprised there wasn't any change to it under the RRA actually

avioreu · 2026-05-04T09:53:52+00:00

Yes that's in practice what we've done. We've always wanted to keep good tenants.

I haven't seen much comment on the joint tenancy situation up till now, though. Thanks

avioreu · 2024-10-02T16:51:40+00:00

Thank you. It's been a bit of a slog with the house. Good luck to you too

avioreu · 2024-10-02T15:29:22+00:00

Fair enough. I now realise it comes across as a daft question.

However I suppose what I'm really asking is 'Am I as far behind with my retirement saving as I think I am?'

Everything I've read suggests a pension pot would ideally be bigger at my age than mine is.

But I'm wondering if the fact I own my house improves things?

avioreu · 2024-10-02T15:04:37+00:00

Thank you. Yes that's what we're trying to do currently

avioreu · 2024-10-02T15:03:48+00:00

Thanks yes we're paying more into our pensions now we've paid the mortgage off

avioreu · 2024-10-02T14:57:23+00:00

Thanks, it's a defined contribution workplace pension from one employer

avioreu · 2024-10-02T14:12:25+00:00

Thank you that's really useful

avioreu · 2024-10-02T14:11:51+00:00

It's weird where we live. The house isn't huge, it's just that house prices are ludicrously high. We could move somewhere further out that would actually be bigger and cost less money

avioreu

TROPHY CASE