It’s no secret that renting in the UK is a wild ride. When tenants aren’t contending with astronomical prices, they’re dealing with nightmarish flatmates, mould, or difficult landlords.
Gen Z and Millennials have collectively been dubbed ‘Generation Rent,’ and in London, people pay at least 50% more for rent on average than anywhere else in the UK. The average is now an eyewatering £1,625 per month.
In 2024 alone, Metro has reported on a live-in landlord who timed his lodger’s showers and set a maximum limit of two minutes, as well as someone who unknowingly paid rent to a fake landlord for six months. He only realised when the real owner showed up to evict him.
So, with that in mind, we asked our readers for their most unhinged landlord stories, from bizarre requests that overnight guests pay £10 per stay, to a specific clause that renters weren’t allowed to use a fan in their room – even in blazing mid-summer heat.
Jess, 24
Location: London
Rent: £997 bills included
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Year: 2023
‘My girlfriend and I were splitting the cost of rent in a room in a shared house for 6 months while we looked for a more permanent alternative.
‘In my contract for the room, it was stated that fans must not be used on the premises (likely due to the electric bill). If we were to use them, we’d be charged £10 a week, apparently.
‘I won’t admit whether I broke this rule or not. But we had a 30C heatwave that summer and my room turned into a sauna. I hope he enjoyed whatever he managed to buy with the tiny amount saved on electricity!’
Laura, 30
Location: London
Rent: Around £650 per month
Year: 2016
‘Once, the kitchen sink in a flat I shared with seven other people was completely blocked and spewing brown water everywhere. I tried all the usual solutions but nothing worked, so I called my landlord.
‘He was already quite a dodgy guy and used to call me late at night ‘to chat’, but I thought he’d at least do the bare minimum to help (even if just for the sake of his property). Nope: he refused to come out or call in a professional, instead telling me to buy sulfuric acid and pour it down the plughole.
‘Given this is a highly corrosive substance that can cause burns and reacts violently with water – let alone the multiple chemicals I’d already used – I said I wasn’t comfortable with his ‘solution.’
‘He then flew off the handle, told me I was useless and threatened to come round, throw away my belongings and change the locks if I didn’t leave within the next few days. I (stupidly) hadn’t signed a proper tenancy agreement so just decided to cut my losses and do a runner.
‘I later heard from one of the people who still lived there that the landlord had come round with a bottle of sulfuric acid and proceeded to blow up the whole kitchen. Karma in action.’
Will, 23
Location: London
Rent: £875
Year: 2024
‘I moved into my first room in London and noticed one of my flatmates had her boyfriend around all the time.
‘Wasn’t much of a deal to me as they kept to their room. We got a message from the landlord one morning saying that any guests should be preapproved by him and need to pay a fee of £10 a night.
‘I had no idea how he knew and was scared the girl would think I had blabbed but turns out he had cameras on every floor of the building staircase so could see who went into which apartment and when.’
Emma, 30
Location: Leeds
Rent: £400
Year: 2019
‘Travelled five hours up the M1 to move into my new house. Pulled up outside to find a builder smoking a cig sat on my front step.
‘Confirmed I was actually at the right address and walked in to find the whole downstairs (kitchen/living room) was a building site… ‘renovations’ still in progress which the landlord failed to tell us about.
‘With no kitchen, I argued with the landlord that this was (obviously) completely unliveable to which they suggested we could eat at their friend’s Chinese takeaway for free “for the next week or so” until the kitchen was finished…
‘Obviously, we didn’t take them up on this as Chinese takeaway for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a week would likely have killed us.’
Rob, 37
Location: London
Rent: £1,450 for a three-bed flat
Year: 2019
‘Someone once tried to break into the flat I shared with two other people. They didn’t succeed, but they kicked the door to the point that it split in two and needed replacing.
‘The landlord tried to pin the cost of replacing the door on us, claiming it should come out of our contents insurance (the overall cost for the emergency locksmith call out, new locks and door replacement came to over £3,000).
‘Once my flatmate threatened him with legal action and explained somewhat sarcastically that if we’re to pay for it we’ll all the cut the door into three pieces when we all move out, he quickly got the door fixed, but he still managed to get the locksmith to install one less lock.’
Cat, 28
Location: Hertfordshire:
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Rent: £700
Year: 2023
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‘To pay an extra £50 a month to park on her driveway. The driveway was part of the house and had plenty of space. Charging to use the driveway was just a way to make more money!’
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