Back to reality

[EmilyA]

We are rural too Pat, though I do stuff like U3A which makes a big difference. I guess that I know the town where my daughter lives in the UK very well, no doubt it would be very different in an unfamiliar part of the UK.

[Judith]

[quote user="Théière"][quote user="You can call me Betty"]Each to their own, Teapot. I've been nothing but impressed by stuff I've bought from IKEA. And I don't eat eggs much, in any shape or form.[/quote]

They do have some solid furniture but as I worked around so many new flats developments the amount of it I have taken to the various dumps is staggering. It's stuff that just doesn't move with people. Should be greatful as repairing it is a full time job but the owners won't pay as the items are cheap. Hulsta, like IKEA but better made.[/quote]

Yes indeed, the furniture we lost in the flood 'cos it did not survive was all left by previous owners and was IKEA based or same type.  Our own furniture, lugged around several moves, all survived, albeit with slightly lighter coloured legs.  Covered in mud though, which took 2-3 washes to get it off, but hey, I can live with oak or such with lighter legs, looks used and "lived" with.

[lindal1000]

There's still a lot of money about in some parts of the UK."

I think what always surprises me is that people don't think twice about spending £6.00 on a cappuccino and a cake, or £20 on breakfast for the whole family. I don't know whether it's because there's a lot of money around or whether it's because the streets are littered with temptation. I sometimes miss that here, but on the rare occasions I get a craving there isn't a decent coffee shop for several miles so I don't bother. In UK just walking to the station I would be confronted by at least two!

[YCCMB]

A cappuccino (medium sized) in Costa is £2.45. A café crème in most places in France, including our village bar, is €2.60.

As an aside, I don't suppose you've been watching "Flat Pack Empire" currently on BBC2? It's a behind-the-scenes documentary about IKEA. If you saw the levels of testing to which they submit their furniture, I'm guessing you'd be at least surprised, if not impressed (obviously, if you're predisposed to be unimpressed, it won't change your mind)

For example, in the last episode, they showed how they test the laminate on cupboard doors with water which is left on the surface on a cotton pad for 16 hours to ensure it doesn't bubble or delaminate.

I suspect a lot of their furniture that fails does so ultimately because it was assembled in a cack handed manner. Admittedly, their instructions don't help.

Our kitchen table is from IKEA. It must be 25 years old. I've sanded it, painted it, lime waxed it, painted it again...and the same with the chairs we bought to go with it. It's still as solid as a rock and of a shape, style and size I can't replace. It's survived kids from the time they couldn't feed themselves, through homework, craft projects, hot serving dishes, spills of every possible substance, and the first thing our vendors said when they popped back to pick up some post when we'd moved into our new house was "Oh, we like your table".

[ebaynut]

Theiere wrote,

Oops, that was the biggest mistake, letting to anyone on the social.

I would disagree with that statement, the biggest mistake is, as Patf stated,

(all immigrants)

If these people play the rules correctly, it will cost you about 10K by the time they are gone. They will wait for you to evict them, and on the day the bailiff arrives, the nice council will have a duty to house them.

Until that day arrives, providing a home for them is your responsibility. Please don't forget to keep the boiler serviced,property insurance up to date, ( this will increase substantially at renewal due to the situation) smoke and CO2 detectors workings and the Legionella report up to date.

This is why unless you are prepared to use a 'donk' to remove them, never, ever, let out property.

[Théière]

As I look after a lot of properties for private landlords, private management companies etc. The large percentage of people moving through these properties are "immigrants" and very little trouble with them.  Once you introduce the astute, highly skilled "social" tenants who know just about every trick in the book then it all goes downhill fast.

There are of course some good social tenants but they can also change in a blink of an eye should the need arise.    

[Théière]

[quote user="You can call me Betty"]If you saw the levels of testing to which they submit their furniture, I'm guessing you'd be at least surprised, if not impressed (obviously, if you're predisposed to be unimpressed, it won't change your mind)

Our kitchen table is from IKEA. It must be 25 years old. I've sanded it, painted it, lime waxed it, painted it again...and the same with the chairs we bought to go with it. It's still as solid as a rock and of a shape, style and size I can't replace. It's survived kids from the time they couldn't feed themselves, through homework, craft projects, hot serving dishes, spills of every possible substance, and the first thing our vendors said when they popped back to pick up some post when we'd moved into our new house was "Oh, we like your table".[/quote]

I do know they test thoroughly but not on parts that take the strain so much. water on the laminate but the board fails at the edges.  sawdust glued together will take on humidity and fail, real wood can and does move with the seasons. I am not predisposed to anything, time changes, products vary and the chipboard chuck it away mentality is just adding to more landfill issues, not solely Ikea as many many companies have copied the production techniques.  

As I said some of their products are good, like your table but that is from a vintage which was very different to a lot of what they do now.

[Patf]

"They will wait for you to evict them, and on the day the bailiff arrives, the nice council will have a duty to house them."

Husband has already realised that , ebaynut. So this thread should act as a warning to others.

It's already cost us a few thousand.

[ebaynut]

Only another 7K to go then.

Did your letting agent not advise you to insure against this happening, most do cover this these days, check your house insurance policy, it may be included, if you have already checked, then sorry to point it out, but often people have cover and don't know it.

These people are the bottom feeders of life, but the nanny state protects them, there is a lot to be said for the 'Rachman' approach.

[woolybanana]

Ebaynut, are you not a landlord yourself? Have you ever had problems with tenants? How do you go about sorting them if you do? Do you have big dogs?

[Patf]

Yes we do have an insurance policy, but I'm not sure what it covers, apart from missed rent. We'll have to check the contract. It might cover court costs and our rental expenses if we're lucky.

[woolybanana]

Cross fingers for you, Pat.

[Théière]

[quote user="woolybanana"]Cross fingers for you, Pat.[/quote]

+1

[ebaynut]

W/B wrote,

Ebaynut, are you not a landlord yourself? Have you ever had problems with tenants? How do you go about sorting them if you do? Do you have big dogs?

I guess I have been lucky with my tenants so far, never had to evict any in over twenty years. But I stick to some rules, always rent to people who are local to the area, if they have kids, so much the better, they want homes, not somewhere to live. Always charge below the going rate, so it makes sense for them to stay then, let them have pets, it makes a home.

I vet all the local lettings personally, and where I use an agent because distance makes looking after the property impossible, then get an agent who is in it for the long haul, not some cheap fly by night.

I don't know, of course, but the agent Patf is using most likely has no further interest in her property. When she said she wanted her house back, his revenue stream dried up, why waste anymore time on the matter, he will not earn a penny more from that property now.

And never let to migrants, they have left their home country to live in yours, they will think nothing of moving on at any time, they think and act differently to English people, and why would you anyway, there are now so many waiting tenants to choose from why invite trouble.

And don't get me started on now having to check the prospective tenant has a right to live in the UK, and its now my job to do this, get fined is you don't, as our government just let anyone flood into the country.

[idun]

We too have ended up renting a property.

It is checked over by the agents every month and I would hope that yours do that too Patf.

When they do, I do not see any reason why they could not take photos of the state of the place too.

We also have an special insurance policy and I shall have to check up if ours covers if people will not leave, I know that I would not have rented out if it had not covered for non payment of rent, or malicious damage.

This problem Patf has, is something I had not considered and shall check on.

Like you ebaynut, we gave a local family with a pet and reasonable rent, they keep the property in good order and pay their rent on time and we do any thing that needs doing immediately or as soon as possible. Good tennants deserve a good landlord.

However, if they end up not wanting to leave would be quite another thing, as I said, need to check up.