After landlords had their say last week, Metro readers share their stories of nightmare rentals…
■ To those such as Nigel Hancock (MetroTalk, Fri), who talk about private landlords providing a ‘service’, I have seen friends live in a cockroach-infested flat and others with no hot water. Both of these things were blamed on my friends and the landlord did nothing. My friend also had her landlady destroy their only bathroom with no warning.
I bought a house from a landlord who had left it in a state, unoccupied, for a year. Apparently he owns a lot of unoccupied houses and sells them for a profit. None of this seems to be helping or providing a ‘service’ for renters.
Laura, London
■ In response to Simon Jay (MetroTalk, Fri), who says many landlords are pensioners who have saved for 50 years to have a reasonable standard of life after retiring. It’s all well and good to be able to rent out a second home after saving for so long but that doesn’t change the fact most renters pay more in monthly rent than what the landlords pay in their mortgage payments.
Landlords can argue about the cost-of-living crisis, but hiking up rent has been happening since long before it.
Converting a cupboard into a ‘cosy studio to rent’ simply to line a landlord’s pension or holiday home isn’t fair. They’re putting tenants in a position where they probably can’t afford a first home, let alone a pension, because they’re selfishly making it impossible for us to do so.
Laura, Walthamstow
■ If landlords charged rent at cost, maybe they’d be a force for good. But many, if not most, don’t. They’ll rent out a house with two or more bedrooms at more than the mortgage rate, because it’s an almost guaranteed income (people have to live somewhere). Renting out a four-bedroom house to four people who each pay a month’s mortgage in one rent payment isn’t ensuring people are housed – it’s ensuring they’ll always be in need of your service.
Aidan, Dartford
■ Nigel argues that landlords are ‘providing accommodation’ but they do no such thing. Building companies and the government provide it by building houses. His argument that people would be homeless without private landlords is even more misguided.
I’ve never met anyone who pays more for their mortgage than they did when they rented. The reason people often can’t afford mortgages is because they have no money left each month after paying over the odds to a landlord.
Tom, Sheffield
Destroying nature wrecks economy
■ The article ‘Mother Nature on the run since 1970’ (Metro, Thu) was a depressing report on the state of fauna throughout the world.
In it the WWF says that we are heading for a catastrophe if we continue to rely on fossil fuels and that our leaders are letting us down.
While I agree the anti-oil protesters are not helping their cause by upsetting the public, I do sympathise with their cause.
Here is the dilemma. We must stick to the agreement to limit global warming to 1.5C and this means we cannot open more gas and oil fields. This government has labelled the protesters as part of the ‘anti-growth coalition’ but if the climate continues to warm at this rate the effect on the economy will be massively worse.
Instead of labelling the anti-oil brigade as tree-huggers, we should all take responsibility and reduce our dependency where we can.
The UK, in particular, has half of its biodiversity of historic levels, making it one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world.
Lloyd, Leigh-On-Sea
Go offline to stay on track
■ I am writing regarding Paul Brooks’s article on GPS units (Metro, Fri). He refers to himself as having ‘never hiked’ and his companion as having little sense of direction, yet they embarked on a 25-mile hike in the Scottish Highlands with only
a GPS unit for navigation.
The advice to walkers from mountain rescue teams, and other such bodies, is to always have a map and compass, and know how to use them. Electronic devices can fail, as mine did when walking the Dales Way some years ago. Fortunately, I continued my walk using a map and compass.
Basic navigation skills can be learned from books or the internet but I would highly recommend the National Navigation Award Scheme (NNAS). Training is generally over a weekend and, as well as learning useful skills, you can have an enjoyable time socialising with like-minded walkers. There are many providers of such courses throughout the UK offering the basic bronze certification.
Graham Moss, Huyton, Liverpool
Was fraud inevitable?
■ While reading your article regarding the findings of an investigation into the government’s Covid support, (Metro, Thu), one sentence caught my eye, ‘While this essential support was established quickly, billions were wasted through fraudulent claims and loose controls’.
It was from Dame Meg Hillier, who chairs the Commons public accounts committee. This echoes the criticism about buying PPE, where billions were also wasted.
Speed was required, not the months it takes for a tendering process. Another example of impatience and, afterwards, with the benefit of hindsight, criticism.
Paul, West Midlands
And another thing…
■ Well said James (MetroTalk, Fri). The coronation is the tonic we need This country is exclusive in its ability to provide spectacular pomp and ceremony, and I think King Charles is a fab person. Having met him on many occasions, I for one am very excited and will be there to see this historic event. Long live the King!
W H, South Gloucestershire
■ Why can’t people stop staring at their phones and watch where they are going. It’s a phone, for heaven’s sake. Stop holding it as if it’s an extension of your arm.
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Secondly, we do not want to hear your boring conversations on the bus and train. So, give it a rest.
Vicki, Solihull
■ I surely cannot be the only person in the UK who finds the use of the F-word is overused in TV programmes, where professional people are supposedly having a normal conversation. In my working life, I’ve always worked in offices, with mainly men at our team meetings. Never once, in 15 years, did anyone use this word, even by accident. No way would I have just sat there and not raised the matter.
To hear women use it as well is unbelievable. My children, now adults, never used it and nor do their children. I have to admit I seldom hear it when I am in shops or places such as hospitals or dentists. I would love to know if your readers have to accept it at office meetings today.
Ann Paterson, Didcot
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