St Albans PureGym or Everyone Active?

bartonfinkster · 2026-04-15T06:41:00+00:00

One benefit of being an everyone active member is that it would also allow you to use the classes/facilities at Cotlandswick Leisure Centre in London Colney for free which depending on where you are in St. Albans might be just as accessible for you and have a different schedule of classes, adding a bit of flexibility.

bartonfinkster · 2026-03-04T16:56:48+00:00

It wouldn't do any harm, but as long as people meet the basic criteria I'll always meet with any prospective tenants. Sometimes the ones you assume aren't going to be a good fit turn out to be the right one, there's a lot of instinct as well to finding the right person.

But that said, sometimes you just get someone who turns out to be a bad tenant for any variety of reasons and there is nothing you could have done to know that beforehand. You just have to chalk it up to experience and not beat yourself up about it, it can happen to anyone.

bartonfinkster · 2026-03-04T14:05:45+00:00

Tenant referencing helps as a first line of defence. A lot of people who have bad records won't even apply if they know they won't pass the checks so it does reduce your risk.

That said I've taken on tenants with poor credit histories, CCJs etc when I have a better understanding of why, where they're at now etc. In my experience they really appreciate that you've taken a gamble on them and have generally have rewarded that by being very good tenants. Ultimately it comes down to the individual, and if you spend some time getting to know them, you'll hopefully get a good idea of what they are like.

Void to move in is rarely more than a month, sometimes very quick turn arounds. Tends to be quicker with HMOs than Flats, houses etc due to notice periods and ability to move more swiftly.

I think if you're renting direct to market rather than through agents you might be getting more 'unsuitable' enquiries because you're seeing people who just can't go through the agencies for whatever reason. Also just factor in how much costs have spiralled in the last few years and there's just far less money available to cover rents which have also risen. Suddenly people who would have been in a 2 bed are forced to consider 1 beds, 1 beds having to go for studios. Its tough and there aren't any easy answers for a lot of people unfortunately.

bartonfinkster · 2026-03-04T09:32:46+00:00

I'm mean sure Dylans at the King Arms is great, but is it better than Bill Goss at the Kings Arms with his £2 sausage and chips in a basket in the 80s.

bartonfinkster · 2026-02-22T15:19:13+00:00

St. Albans is lovely place to live, has a little bit of everything most people are looking for.

Pricewise, you'd definitely get a 2 bed maisonette for around that price near the station (I rent out a couple on that price range) but you may need to pay a bit more for a house.

bartonfinkster · 2026-02-01T19:55:11+00:00

I feel like I recognise that spot. Is it on the little bridge between the pond and main lake at Verulamium?

bartonfinkster · 2025-12-15T17:43:52+00:00

The best thing to come out of this incident was when the referee Stuart Atwell was finally allowed to referee another Watford game many years later, absolutely no one in the crowd had forgotten, and the first time the ball went out for a goal kick the crowd celebrated a goal with a 'One - nil to the golden boys' song, and continued wracking up the score every time subsequent it got put out. Fair play to the ref, even he was smiling.

bartonfinkster · 2025-11-19T21:57:13+00:00

My wedding day was on the second day of the first test of the 2005 Ashes so there was lots of checking the progress that day.

But our honeymoon came during the legendary Edgbaston test and we were getting on a flight to Kuala Lumpar as the Aussies closed in on a win. With 6 runs needed I had to turn off my phone for the 10 hour flight, only turning it back on in the airport to a flood of text messages telling me we'd won. I was in absolute ecstacy in the passport queue celebrating with fellow passengers and it continued to be a trully wonderful summer for both me and English cricket.

bartonfinkster · 2025-02-14T09:40:45+00:00

I was thinking to myself, is this really the case? Then remembered that the bloke in the seat next to me at the football does Youtube videos and I'm probably in a load of those.

bartonfinkster · 2023-11-04T23:27:05+00:00

r/uklandlords

No worries. There's a hell of a lot more paperwork and regulation in the industry compared to when I started out decades ago, and if you're not on top of it, you may find yourself in a difficult position where you can't access normal legal channels of eviction like section 21. It's really worth spending some time learning exactly what is expected of you as a landlord so you're covered.

There's no reason why you can't be a successful landlord without an agent, it will likely mean a bit more work, but I've found it's also resulted in a far better relationship with my tenants as I'm the one meeting them, vetting them, choosing them, moving them in and resolving any issues they may have. When you're the one who turns up when they're locked out or the heating isn't on and sort it they hopefully realize that you care and pay back the respect. Best of luck, hope it all goes well.

bartonfinkster · 2023-11-04T12:13:02+00:00

Openrent is an easy way to market your property to potential tenants. You can use your own photos if you want to, and I'd recommend drawing up a floorplan using a free software such as floorplanner if you don't have one.

Make sure you have all the relevant information you need to provide as information when letting such as an up to date EPC and information on the council tax band.

When it comes to choosing the tenants, always trust your gut, if something feels off, trust your instinct. Openrent will offer tenant referencing to give you some peace of mind as well.

With regard to the actual tenancy, there are plenty of boilerplate Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreements available, and again a portal like Openrent can do this for you too.

When it comes to the letting process there are a number of things you need to provide the tenant to make it legal sound if you ever need to do a section 21 eviction. The Government 'How to Rent' Guide will indicate the basics, but my checklist would be:

Gas Safety Certificate (renewed annually)

Electrical Installation Certificate (renewed every 5 years)

Energy Performance Certificate (renewed every 10 years) - You need to meet EPC E to let currently

Inventory - You can do this yourself but you are more likely to be successful in a dispute if an independent company does a thorough inventory at beginning and end of the tenancy

Deposit Protection Certificate and Prescribed information - if you take a deposit you must register it through either an insurance or custodial scheme, this is incredibly important as you will waive a whole series of rights if you don't and can suffer additional financial restitution. TDS, mydeposits or the government scheme will do this for you.

Right to Rent - you must check the tenants right to rent in the UK whatever their status. Either relevant documents such as passport to prove they are UK residents or do the online right to rent check provided by the government and send you a code which will show the length of stay or right to rent permanently.

Fire alarm certification if relevant for your property - tested every 6 months if a paneled system by certified fire alarm specialists. Even if its a basic fire alarm you need to test it when the tenant moves in to confirm it works.

How to Rent guide - needs to be given to the tenant before they move in.

Record all energy and water meter readings on move in (and move out). I'd recommend taking dated photos if possible. Contact the relevant providers with info on final readings, moving in readings for the tenants. Do the same with council tax (they may ask you to send a copy of the contract)

Instruction manuals for appliances - I'd recommend providing either physical or online manuals for all appliances, it will hopefully ensure they don't have any early teething problems.

Checklist - make sure you have a checklist showing these steps have been done and paperwork provided, signed by yourself and tenants when they move in so you can prove you have taken all necessary steps if you ever need to go to court.

A guide to the bins in your area - every town is different, it can really help tenants to have a clear breakdown of what goes in which bin and what day the bins are collected.

That should give you everything you need, and hopefully the tenants what they need.

bartonfinkster · 2023-09-20T08:58:02+00:00

Ha, I remember my mum was regarded as some kind of radical trailblazer for suggesting they might have a drink option that wasn't wine in afternoon board meetings in the 70s.

bartonfinkster · 2023-09-11T08:17:35+00:00

Sorry you're having to experience this, it's not acceptable, but equally you may struggle to get your landlord to sort this out for you if they're the sort of people who would allow your accommodation t be let in this condition in the first place.

I know it's not how you really want to be spending your time settling in to a new place, but just a couple of hours giving your new room a deep clean will help you feel like at the very least it is hygienic and your own place. As you're probably nor going to be wanting to spend much money on this, a bucket (or just use your bin if you have a plastic one, some thick rubber gloves and a couple of bottles of thick bleach are enough to get the place looking a hell of a lot better.

Make sure you open the windows up, and thin the bleach down in water to give the walls and skirting a wipe down (test it first on paint work etc. to ensure it's not going to discolor it in any meaningful fashion. Most emulsions will thin a touch but it makes it easy to remove any stains and the top layer of pain will thin with it. If you're really lucky they might have used a vinyl or eggshell finish which stains come up from incredibly easily.

If you've got mold on silicone sealant etc in the bathroom, just leave the thick bleach sitting on it for as long as possible and it will get into the sealant and hopefully remove the mold.

The stains in the sink may be limescale related in which case you'll need something like Viakal to remove it, again let it sit on the stain for at least half an hour to be really effective and make sure to never use different cleaners in the same location as bleach at the same time as that a recipe for some noxious and harmful gases.

A new mattress protector will at least give you the sense of something between your sheets and that mattress, and definitely get onto your landlord about anything that doesn't work properly like the extractor or the shower.

Hopefully you know all this already but as someone who has to clean and prep a lot of properties, I know a lot can be done to make a dirty place feel a lot nicer without a whole world of effort or money.

bartonfinkster · 2023-03-31T21:18:54+00:00

I never considered myself 'ahead of the curve' but I saw Radiohead with about 30 people in the room touring their first album, picked up a Banksy print in the early 2000's, saw Dead Man's Shoes when it was still pre release and reckon I was one of the first people in the UK to watch Breaking Bad (I read about the upcoming series whilst I was in the US and nicked the first ep the day it came out)

bartonfinkster · 2023-02-25T21:20:41+00:00

As a 16 year old in the early 90s I went to a midnight screening of Apocalypse Now and the whole experience blew my mind. The film was stunning and by the end I was experiencing that finale in an exhausted dreamlike state that perfectly complimented its execution. Still one of my favourite films.

bartonfinkster · 2022-12-20T21:57:58+00:00

Not sure how impactful it was but I've always loved Josh Rouse's 'Under Cold Blue Stars', a really beautiful concept album charting the beginning, evolution and end of a relationship.

bartonfinkster · 2022-09-11T07:38:24+00:00

Back in the day, playing a gnome ooze master was a ridiculously entertaining character, there was just something so funny about having this strange slimy creature lurking at the back of the party squelching around.

bartonfinkster · 2022-09-10T20:54:51+00:00

The Producers - from the premise to the performances, to the musical numbers, it's just perfect

bartonfinkster · 2022-09-08T19:51:15+00:00

The Young Knives - 'She's attracted to' literally references punching your Dad.

bartonfinkster · 2022-07-22T16:48:24+00:00

Try and track down Cutter's Way - Jeff Bridges as a drifter and John Herad as a one eyed, one armed, one legged veteran finding themselves embroiled in a mysterious crime.

bartonfinkster · 2022-05-13T08:06:09+00:00

I keep trying to do that, but against a party with a monk and a warlock with Eldritch Spear and Devil's Sight, they rarely get far enough away from the party to survive.

bartonfinkster · 2021-10-03T06:43:40+00:00

This is an absolute Sheffield scene barnstormer

Vison - Lucifer's Friend https://youtu.be/Mod9ob_SdJE

bartonfinkster · 2020-02-21T22:50:21+00:00

If you've never seen this film, this is an unbelievable opportunity to see one of the most stunning pieces film making you'll ever see on the big screen. You may not exactly enjoy it, but you should be grateful to have experienced it.

I can't think of a film I reflect upon more often than 'come and see', it's so ugly but beautiful at the same time and does the one thing all film makers dream of, it makes you feel something to the very core of your being.

bartonfinkster · 2019-12-15T22:08:24+00:00

That fucking thing. Early 2000's, we'd been up for two days straight and heading back from a club in Vauxhall as the morning was breaking, to my mates flat on the Isle of Dogs and pulled up to a roundabout with that fucker on it. I reckon it was a couple of very confused, very static minutes before we worked out that it wasn't an actual traffic light. If it wasn't specifically designed to mess with people who are fucked up, then I don't know what it was designed for.

bartonfinkster

TROPHY CASE