To Rent or Not to Rent

There have been numerous articles lately about rental prices and the lack of supply to go along with it but what is it really like to rent in the big smoke? I’m just a 25-year-old with my own personal experience which I’ve shared below but don’t let me scare you! There are good stories too. Aren’t there?

In 2011 my partner and I rented the bottom floor of a house in Drumcondra. Back then the rent was cheap, €750. Cheap for 2016 standards anyway! Everything was fine until damp start appearing on the bedroom and hall walls. When we reported this to the agency they just painted over it. That would stop it right?…

The damp patches kept coming back and new tenants upstairs were causing havoc so we approached the agency again but this time, they were obviously fed up of our want for a good living standard. When our lease came to an end we were told they wouldn’t be continuing it as the landlord wanted to sell it. A month later? It was back up on daft for €50 extra. We believe our lease wasn’t continued because we had complained.

Two cats in tow and we started our search for our next temporary home but those of you with pets might relate, it’s hard to find somewhere suitable for our furry friends! You could say we shouldn’t have taken pets on but sure, they’re part of the family now. 🐱

The time came to move out and we still had nowhere. Thankfully, a relative who lives nearby offered to let us stay with him until we sorted ourselves out. I’m very grateful for that because not a lot of people have that option. We took him up on the offer and we ended up staying there for almost 3 years because the rental market took a downturn.

We attended a few viewings throughout 2015 and realised very quickly that things had changed. You would find that half of Dublin would show up at viewings to places that were shoebox sized and you would have to fight to the death to even get noticed. We were asked for payslips, PPS numbers, bank statements and god knows what else. So I made a CV. Yes. A rental CV.

2015 was coming to an end and I decided to browse on Daft as I usually do because y‘know it’s kind of fun! Bingo. It was a sign I told myself, right there in front of my eyes was a little (but spacious if that makes any sense) one bed duplex in a local development that I’ve always dreamt about living in AND it was a great price! I didn’t think I would have a chance at all considering a house viewing is like an interview with the one and only Elon Musk but I chanced my arm anyway ’cause I had a good “feeling” so I sent my CV style email. You become REALLY good at sucking up to people after a while!

Beep beep. She replied! She said she was only holding viewings for the first 4 people that got in touch and I was the last of those 4, which made me think even more that this was “the one”. Me and my notions. The night of the viewing rolled around and I made sure to wear my fancy blazer and arrived with my rental CV in hand. I was on a mission. I explained that this was my dream area and handed her my stack of documents, references and all. She laughed at how much effort I had put in but said it was ours if we wanted it. WHAT! It worked! Could this be real?! Happy Christmas to me.

One problem… The lease was only 6 months long and the property was unfurnished. She wanted a short lease because her family wanted to sell it on in the future. After a short discussion where we described our fear of buying a load of furniture and then having nowhere to go after 6 months and how we would have enough of a deposit by the end of the lease to potentially buy it she agreed to sign a one-year fixed term lease, no break clause. Woop! Off we went to spend half our savings on furniture and unnecessary house bits.

Three months in, I was recovering from gallbladder surgery and I wake up to an email from our landlord saying that there is a potential buyer for the house who wants to arrange a viewing for his surveyor but stressed it was just early stages. Red flag alert: if a surveyor is involved it means it is NOT early stages. She claimed she knew nothing else about it and advised that we call the solicitor for the property if we had any questions. Gave him a ring and let him know that the buyer would have to take over our lease but he brushed it off. We made an offer on the house, he brushed that off too.

I won’t bore you with the details but this went on for a while until the actual buyer called us and said he had been talking to them about buying it since BEFORE Christmas! We asked him if he knew about the lease and if he was willing to become a landlord. He was shocked at the thought of it and said he was planning to give us notice as soon as he bought it — nice! We informed him, in a friendly manner of course and using our advice from the PRTB, that a legally binding fixed term lease cannot be broken and although the house could be sold, the lease would have to be taken over too. He was not happy… He said he would have to get his solicitor on the case. We haven’t heard anything since apart from a brief email from the landlords solicitor saying he was awaiting his clients instruction in relation to our offer. Does this mean the buyer has backed out? We feel like we are in limbo now with no idea as to what is going on.

The brazen approach and lack of consideration for our lease was like a red rag to a bull for us…. The way the rental market is now there is an added pressure to be a “good tenant”. We paid for a plumber to come out and fix the toilet because the u-bend was on wrong, we spent the winter wrapped in blankets because the back burner barely gives off any heat so that we didn’t cause her any hassle. All to be treated like crap.

The case continues…… Wish us luck.

This happens every day and it’s time to stick up for your rights as a tenant. They are in your favour after all! This blog was mainly to vent but I’m not the only one who has a story like this, some people have it worse. Have you ever had a bad rental experience?