Renting furnished room - law regarding mattress?

Blackpool_Saver

Why rent furnished if it offends you so much ? and I have to be honest, I wouldn't rent furnished myself.....

[Deleted User]

I remember back to the days when I rented furnished rooms. I didn't take a room if it was in a bad state, if it was clean and furnishings were ok I'd take it. But u haven't really got that choice now. I'd suggest giving the mattress a good scrub and hoover regardless of its condition. A floor steamer can be bought fairly cheaply (£30) .., I've used them in the past to kill nasty things that live in mattresses. Obviously none of these things will kill anything living deep in a mattress but other than buying a new one, there's little else you can do.

I wasn't as picky when 18 as I am now lol. I dread to think what I slept on then now lol. But obviously it had no ill effects.

Having had to deal with a bed bug invasion from a neighbours house (as far as I can tell), I'd be a lot more careful now with checking mattresses and bed bases very very carefully. Divan's are now no longer allowed in this house (ideal bed bug hiding habitat)!

AlexMac

To get anecdotal...
As a small landlord who likes to keep tenants happy (so they stay longer and I don't have the considerable expense of change-overs, which, with costs and even a short gap between lets, can knock 20% pa off your annual income...) I change beds every 3 years or so. A local firm who specialise in selling to LLs (Whitewoods) will deliver new and cart away old beds for £100-150, which is peanuts compared with rent of £10k+ pa. In practice, my tenants have therefore tended to stay an average 3 years or more, so I'm quids in. But as FF says LLs vary.

So as FF and others say- negotiate, move, or, if you plan to be there a while, buy a cheap replacement bed so the only fauna living in the mattress are yours, and just leave it there when you move on; the LL won't even n otice unless you're scrapping an antique 4-poster!

GDB2222

Just a quick point - you can ask, but you can't require. So, if your LL does not wish to remove the mattress and store it so you can buy a new one for yourself (and take it with you later), that's tough. Nobody will force you to use it, but you will need to store it yourself. If you just chuck it out, you will discover that even doing that is quite expensive, and the loss to the LL will be charged against your deposit.

Alternatively, it is possible that, as Alex says, you can get away with substituting your own mattress just as long as you leave it there when you move out. It depends how thorough the inventory clerk is.

Raksha

I guess you'd never sleep in a b and b or hotel if sleeping on a used mattress offends you so much

DRP

Raksha wrote: »

I guess you'd never sleep in a b and b or hotel if sleeping on a used mattress offends you so much

Clearly the OP isn't worried about a used mattress per se, but rather a disgusting used mattress.

Which is entirely justified imo.

I think the best approach (given that OP is already committed to the room), would be firstly to approach the LL in a non-confrontational manner and ask if they will replace it. If this is no good then offer to replace it yourself and get his permission in writing.

I would say that the 'storage' option is a huge inconvenience - a double mattress can cost as low as 45 quid - you can even get a John Lewis double mattress for 85.

Over 6 months this is basically the cost of a pint of beer a week... so you can probably afford to leave it when you leave, if the LL insists

Just make sure you leave it in the same (disgusting) condition as the one you replaced

Raksha

King_Mustard wrote: »

To be fair, we don't even like the idea of using a mattress that's been slept in by someone else that I don't know, even if appears in good condition, but I doubt the law allows requests of a new mattress for each new tenant.

)

Thats not what he says here

King_Mustard

Mezza1979 wrote: »

I second this suggestion!

Yes, because life is always ideal! -_-

We currently have no choice but to rent this room at the moment.

Werdnal

Ask for a replacement mattress, but be prepared that landlord may decline to supply one.

You then either supply your own and take with you when you leave, or walk away and rent elsewhere.

Choice is yours!

There are no "laws" as such, some landlords have different standards and expectations to others, as do tenants ...

RupertTheCat

I would suggest actually looking at the mattress, and lying on it. If there appears to be something wrong with it, or it's in a bad way, you can always ask the landlord. They may be happy to change it. If it's just a bit grubby, I can't imagine they will want to change it though.

I've changed mattresses for tenants on several occasions after they've complained about them being uncomfortable. They aren't terribly expensive so it's not that big a deal. A few stains are not, however, going to kill you.

If you ever stay in a hotel you are using a mattress that numerous other people have slept on. Not much difference really.