Real Life Stories

Lettings Insight - August 2010

It’s constantly amazing how many unusual events affect letting agents in the UK on a consistent basis. This is the third in a series of short anecdotes, true situations that have astounded, baffled and surprised agents and have ultimately landed on our desks:

It’s not what I expected!

The property looked idyllic for the tenant’s circumstances: a semi on a lane up to a farm and near all major routes, but far enough up the lane for minimal traffic noise. The garage was huge and the drive could accommodate 4 cars. The three bedroomed property was a little tired and the garden small, but with the outlook of miles of fields, and the sweet sound of birds, it was a dream and the rent was surprisingly low! The tenant reflected on how nice the agent was to offer to show the property on a Sunday morning.

The 6 month AST was duly signed, fees, rent and deposit taken and a move-in day arranged. The tenant drove by with his girlfriend on a couple of occasions, just to marvel at his new home from the main road, perched up on the hill between fields and finally, moved in on a Saturday, a couple of weeks later.

It was the following Monday morning when the peace and quiet came to a thundering halt! At precisely 5.45am, a 12-ton truck rumbled past the house, full belt, heading for the farm. It wasn’t just the noise that woke the tenant, it was the movement of the bed and seismic floor movements that had made him sit up. Getting out of bed to look up the lane, he glimpsed the tail gate of the truck and the clouds of dust that followed. Deciding to go downstairs and start breakfast early, another mini earthquake quickly became apparent, as a second truck shot up the lane.

Within half an hour, trucks and articulated lorries were going up and back down the lane every ten minutes and doubt about the idyll began to creep in. The heavy duty race began to slow down after 10:00am and being self-employed, the tenant decided to start work a little later than usual. Venturing out of the house and walking up the lane, he decided to see where the trucks were coming from and going to. After a 5 minute stroll to what he thought was a copse protecting the farm house, he walked through the trees and saw it: the industrial estate that was supposed to be a farm was enormous! Having contacted the agency to renegotiate the lease (ie, cancel it!), to no avail, and speaking to lettings support line, to no avail, the tenant spent six miserable months in the less-than peaceful house.

Did the agent mis-describe the property? Did the tenant visit at any time during the week? Did he make assumptions? The moral of the story has to be to ask questions, investigate the terrain and perform as much due diligence as possible before signing anything.

(It has to be stated that the agent who reported this story was not the agent who let the property!)

Should you have experienced an unusual event that you feel is worth publishing, please email enq@carlcomms.co.uk.