What's your opinion on this (family strife)

meer53

Wonder if the council know that Malc and Shelley have residents in their shed ? I have a log cabin in my garden but i'm not allowed to rent it out to anyone !

I too think Malc and Shelley are money grabbing ! I'd keep out of it if i were the OP.

tea_lover

They converted a shed and rented it out for £1000 a month with no written agreement? Bet the council would love to hear about that one.

L and A sound like they're much better off out of it. If they can afford £1000 a month they should be able to find somewhere decent to live, without having to do chores! Hope they have a really lovely wedding day.

amus

Are you Shelley/Leos Mum or Dad?

If so Id tell your daughter she is out of order. If not I'd stay well away!!

jellyhead

Was the rent money paying off a loan for the cost of renovating the shed? That's the only way I can think that the money would be covering costs rather than making S&M (chortle!) a massive profit.

jellyhead

If the TIVO thing is on a 12 month minimum contract then Leo should pay the rest of the contract, seeing as he requested it.

Errata

I wonder which one of these sheds belongs to Malcolm?

BBC News
Many houses in areas of London and the Home Counties have put up makeshift shelters in their gardens

Mindless_Clone

Thank you all for your replies. I have, I suppose, by default sided with Andy and Leo as I made the mistake of inviting them to stay for dinner one day when they popped round . This was a week or so after the fight and while they still lived there. S got the hump with them for not letting her know in enough time that they were not going to be home for dinner. Thing is, she’d told me the only a few days before that she was fed up cooking for them and them leaving it so she wasn’t going to bother anymore. (Both boys are shift workers by the way, so meals served up at 5 – 6pm every night is not necessarily convenient and they often either ate it reheated or got thrown away and they got their own... one of the justifications for them paying so much was because they ate so much outside the main cooked meals). To be fair I see Shelly’s point on that because there’s nothing more irritating that throwing your meals in the bin. So when I offered them dinner it was in good faith thinking I was saving them having to cook for themselves later. As I say though, Shelly got the right hump about it, texted Leo to thank him for ruining her dinner and then started a ridiculous piture posting war of her “yummy” dinner on facebook... I know... she’s a mother in her thirties...
Anyway, additional to this, the reason Andy and Leo were round that day was to discuss wedding arrangements, as I and their other sister have agreed to decorate the hall and make the cake for them. So you see I can’t steer well away from them as it stands, aside from which I am family so emotionally invested in them all. No I am not their mum (she died some time ago) but Leo calls me his surrogate mum (I am their aunt).

Supernatural wrote: »

Likewise! Is the shed encrusted in gold? It'd have to be for that money!

:laugh: um, no, but it has been boarded out and insulated and has power and inetrnet so it’s quite nice inside.

PinkLipgloss wrote: »

Plus the sheer inconvenience - I presume they have to go via the garden to enter the house for food/drinks/toilet etc.

Yes, they do. It’s down the bottom of the garden and has no bathroom facilities. I think they had a kettle and microwave in there though, for late might snacks.

Ames wrote: »

They're paying a grand a month to live in a shed and the worst you can say about them is that one of them's lazy.

I don't think I could be neutral!

How on earth does a grand only cover the costs of having someone dossing in your shed? Where do they buy their food, Harrods?

And then threatening them with physical harm and losing a job? I think Malcolm's got off lightly with just being crossed off the wedding list. Why are they even bothered about the wedding when they don't like Andy?

Londis, more likely. Oh I could say a lot more about them than just lazy – on all sides actually as none of them are perfect. To be honest, I don’t much like Andy and he’s a total drama queen... but so is Shelly; they just clash but Shelly is very antagonistic and never happy unless she;s falling out with someone... she has bullied Andy since he has been there and I’ve seen with my own eyes how horrible she’s been to him. Truthfully she’s never been happy about her brother’s homosexuality and I doubt anyone would be good enough for him. A lot of this is becuase S is peed off that Leo actually went out and got a life and isn’t there to run around after her anymore. Leo had no backbone before he met Andy; he has now. Meanwhile she’s SAHM with 3 kids who drive her bonkers.
Since all this happened Leo and Shelly have talked... Leo has been told he’s welcome any time but Andy is not and never will be again. Leo has pretty much said "shove it" because as a rule you sort of put up and shut up with your sibling's spouses, even if you don't necessarily agree with their choices.

Actually it was Leo who said they were not coming to the wedding and his justfication for this was because it would be hypocritical to invite them to the wedding of someone they hate so much! The highly amusing thing is, prior to that, Shelly was practically running the show regarding the wedding; she’d pegged herself cheif bridesmaid and her children as bridesmaids/pageboys, was picking out dresses and colour schemes etc. I think they’re kind of relieved to have control back now but, obviously, because I am still doing the reception bits as pre-agreed, I’m the big bad one. I guess her anger and jelousy has to be directed somewhere. Hey ho!

burnoutbabe wrote: »

you only have to give a months notice as a tennant, under an official AST (though notice must be given on or before the rent day and one month runs from that)

but no way would this count. Sounds well dodgy - they are not tennants as no actual separate dwelling, they live with the landlord. Bet no rent was declared and tax paid (can only discount £4500 or so under rent a room and this sounds far more).

Good point, thank you. I am pretty sure there was no rent boook so I guess it would be hard for anyone to prove.

Hootie19 wrote: »

I am guessing that we're talking more "log cabin" than "workshop type shed" here...

No, I mean a shed. Well actually it’s a wooden garage with an up and over door but was used as a shed. A proper shed, very much like this: http://www.taylorsgardenbuildings.co.uk/store/images/d_12439.jpg

It ihas been insulated and lined and decorated, and power cabled in though, it’s quite nice inside. No heating though so probably taters in the winter.

KateLiana27 wrote: »

*Jeremy Kyle rubs his hands together with glee and wonders how to get your phone number*

:rotfl: Oh if only you knew. If you took a look at the family as a whole, we could probably make a lifetime’s worth of Jeremy Kyle shows. There’s 6 children and there’s always at least one who is not speaking to one other or another part of the family.

FBaby wrote: »

And I bet they claimed tax credits for the children, then banked the additional £1000 a month. How could this possibly cover all costs? That's ridiculous. Sounds like they had a good life, paid debts off or booked a nice holiday, and now they are panicking because they won't be able to continue to repay.

They don’t get tax credits. He earns £40k a year thereabouts. I can say without a doubt that having one additional person in the house does not cost £450 a month more in food and utilities. I have had a friend stay for a month or so recently (left her DH) and I know exactly how much extra it’s cost me to have her here. Nowhere near that (and no, she’s not in my shed! )

As for you, it sounds like they have decided to pass their anger on to you. I would stay well clear and tell them to get lost if they have a go at you.

Indeed. That’s exactly what’s happened and exactly what I am doing. With the whole family really; I am 20 people lighter on my facebook friends list and never been less stressed. I am lucky; I married into this crock of crap and since my DH died a couple of years ago (and hence I have my own problems, ta) I can opt out again now. Which is exactly what I have done. Once the wedding it done with, I shall be popping most of them in the "weddings, funeral and christenings" bracket and only seeing them then.

shelley_crow wrote: »

I hope Leo and Andy kept any proof of the threats that Malcolm made and go to the police. It's no excuse for his behaviour but the extreme reaction suggests to me they were reliant on the money, are they having financial difficulties?

Leo has kept everything, mostly to remind himself not to be such a mug in future I think! The frustrating thing is, Shelly and Leo were so close to each other and had a very special bond among all of them. It seems like such a dreadfully petty thing to damage such a special relationship with something like this. And it has been irretrivably damaged now. Oh well.
S and M are under debt management at the moment and have still run up additional debts . I suspect that’s actually where the money went and the whole “make no profit from them” is justified in that most of it actually all goes to repay debts rather than into the housekeeping. I’d have more sympathy but it’s pretty clear that their spending and lifestyle habits are totally responsible for their debt; he makes £40K a year in his job and they spend cash like it’s grows on trees. Fair enough if you can afford to but when you’re already under debt management? :huh: Hmm!

tea_lover wrote: »

They converted a shed and rented it out for £1000 a month with no written agreement? Bet the council would love to hear about that one.

I assumed they sought the necessary permissions... umm!

I probably shouldn’t mention the other tenant living in the other shed in their garden then?

jellyhead wrote: »

Was the rent money paying off a loan for the cost of renovating the shed? That's the only way I can think that the money would be covering costs rather than making S&M (chortle!) a massive profit.

No, M did pay for it and do the work mostly himself (with help from the boys) but I doubt a bit of insulation and plasterboard, paint etc. cost that much. And, face it, he’s now been left with an occasional guest bedroom / playroom for the children so he’s benefited anyway, and it was always understood that they would move out eventually.

jellyhead wrote: »

If the TIVO thing is on a 12 month minimum contract then Leo should pay the rest of the contract, seeing as he requested it.

They have another lodger who has now taken the additional TIVO box on.

Errata wrote: »

I wonder which one of these sheds belongs to Malcolm?

BBC News
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58752000/jpg/_58752294_jex_1333766_de37-1.jpg
Many houses in areas of London and the Home Counties have put up makeshift shelters in their gardens

:rotfl: The sheds are a bit nicer (and subtler) than that!

meer53

Wow ! My log cabin has 2 single bedrooms, a lounge with a double sofa bed, bathroom with toilet and shower, electric heating and a verandah. Wonder how much i could charge ? Am i missing a trick here ?

Errata

I assumed they sought the necessary permissions... umm!

I probably shouldn’t mention the other tenant living in the other shed in their garden then?

Don't be daft, there's not a planning officer working in our sceptered isle that would give permission for a shed to be used as domestic living accommodation, let alone two of 'em.

PasturesNew

I thought sheds could be used as ancillary accommodation, which is what that one is, without any PP. So long as the shed in itself had the right PP/permissions to be there as a shed, no further permissions would be required, especially as they genuinely were using the house facilities.