21, 94 Landressy Place

Constantin was my live-in landlord, and I had such a difficult experience that I stopped opting for live-in landlord rental arrangements. He was initially very affable and friendly, but things started going downhill after I disagreed with him on paying for repairs without invoices and, on his request, an increased security deposit mid-agreement. In my experience, disagreements were not handled constructively, which made living with him very stressful.

On consulting with him (of which I have email records), I spent £342 and arranged repairs of wall and carpet portions I had accidentally damaged. I wrote to him to schedule an inspection of the room after the repair work was complete and shared invoices as well, but I did not receive a response regarding the inspection.

I also found him very inflexible regarding house rules, some of which, in my experience, were changed by him arbitrarily during the occupancy. He introduced a 9 PM curfew, which I found unreasonable as it restricted my entry and exit from the flat. In addition, heating controls were not shared with me for two days after I moved in and were revoked a day before I moved out. I found many decisions to be one-sided, with limited room for discussion. Overall, these experiences made my stay feel more restrictive than collaborative and far from pleasant.

Eventually, when I moved out less than two months after moving in, £241.86 was deducted from my security deposit for issues that I do not believe were caused during my occupancy. In my view, the deduction was more a reflection of the breakdown in the landlord–lodger relationship than any real issues or damages, resulting in a significant financial loss to me. I would advise prospective lodgers and tenants to beware landlords who are unprofessional and unfair when you disagree with them.

The room I rented was very small, with insufficient space even for a small clothes drying rack, and the flat did not have a tumble dryer. The only practical space for drying clothes was in the shared living room. Constantin had a desk with a PC and printer set-up there, along with a personal chest of drawers. I only occasionally requested space for a clothes drying rack in the shared living room, but I found him reluctant to accommodate this.