Landlord using part of property (outside shed) as storage?

TripleH

Can we assume the 'shed' must be sealed against the weather?

@movedhousedidntreveive whatever you do, the first thing I would do is go in and check the condition of the landlord's belongings in this 'shed'. If you have an inventory check it matches what is there. Also verify (taking pictures) the condition of what was left.

This is so that when you leave, the landlord cannot try to charge you for any damage to these items.

Whatever you say about using the space, do make it clear that you are not insuring these items.

I would follow a duty of care to minimise any damage to them the same you would for the rest of the house, but should they roof to the shed collapse and they are destroyed by rain, that should not be your problem.

MovedHouseDidntReceive

Thanks everyone for your responses! I'm a bit slow to reply as the new flat doesn't yet have broadband and I'm on my phone's 4G... will try to answer as many of you as possible in one!

The shed isn't insulated at all from what I can tell - but it has a set of double doors which are double-glazed and both lockable. The windows are also double-glazed I believe. The construction is a bit more hard-wearing than a standard shed - the wood is somewhat thicker (and... don't know the technical term... not overlapped like in a normal shed?) and it has a tiled roof rather than the usual liner you see on a "normal" shed. Electrically it has its own consumer unit rated for 100A, which leads to a fused switch in the main consumer unit inside the flat - in case that makes any difference at all!

I believe it to be fully weatherproof - we had storms here a few days ago and no sign of water ingress anywhere! And as for the winter, I'm always too hot and prefer a colder environment - though I'd likely buy a small heater for the place as others have suggested.

Finally yes, I have taken pictures of the furniture inside the shed before I did anything, and although I have moved some of the smaller items around to make more space I've again taken more pictures to prove that they are still undamaged. This has meant I have approx 3.2m x 2m of the 3.2m sq space - so about 2/3rds.

So yeah, my options now are screen the space off so I have 2/3rds and don't see his stuff (but don't upset him!), or write to the agents to ask for the stuff to be removed, though they did say on the phone that the furniture "was the landlords and could not be removed). I could probably live with 2/3rds of the space but with all of it I'd really be able to spread out in there and use it for storage as well as some other things too...  decisions decisions!

theartfullodger

What sort of relationship do you want with this twit of a greedy landlord?  He sounds like the sort of person that will have forgotten (and keep forgetting) to get a load of stuff right: e.g. electric safety, gas safety, right sort of mortgage (if wrong lender can re-possess and boot you out quicker..), declaring tax etc etc etc 

If you don;t care what he thinks and don;t need a reference then explain to him you'll be having all the stuff in the shed put by the pavement .. and will be using the shed as you see fit.


Arrogant toad!

Ath_Wat

theartfullodger said:

What sort of relationship do you want with this twit of a greedy landlord?  He sounds like the sort of person that will have forgotten (and keep forgetting) to get a load of stuff right: e.g. electric safety, gas safety, right sort of mortgage (if wrong lender can re-possess and boot you out quicker..), declaring tax etc etc etc 

If you don;t care what he thinks and don;t need a reference then explain to him you'll be having all the stuff in the shed put by the pavement .. and will be using the shed as you see fit.


Arrogant toad!

It sounds to be far more like the estate agent neglected to tell the OP the shed was being used ny the landlord for storage, as it was clearly being used that way while the last tenant was there.  Legally the tenant probably has the right to use the shed, but your reaction is entirely over the top given the story we have been told.

theoretica

Ath_Wat said:

theartfullodger said:

What sort of relationship do you want with this twit of a greedy landlord?  He sounds like the sort of person that will have forgotten (and keep forgetting) to get a load of stuff right: e.g. electric safety, gas safety, right sort of mortgage (if wrong lender can re-possess and boot you out quicker..), declaring tax etc etc etc 

If you don;t care what he thinks and don;t need a reference then explain to him you'll be having all the stuff in the shed put by the pavement .. and will be using the shed as you see fit.


Arrogant toad!

It sounds to be far more like the estate agent neglected to tell the OP the shed was being used ny the landlord for storage, as it was clearly being used that way while the last tenant was there.  Legally the tenant probably has the right to use the shed, but your reaction is entirely over the top given the story we have been told.

Or the landlord didn't bother to tell the agent in advance but the agent thinks imposing on you is less work than explaining to the landlord they can't randomly clutter the place.   

Ath_Wat

theoretica said:

Ath_Wat said:

theartfullodger said:

What sort of relationship do you want with this twit of a greedy landlord?  He sounds like the sort of person that will have forgotten (and keep forgetting) to get a load of stuff right: e.g. electric safety, gas safety, right sort of mortgage (if wrong lender can re-possess and boot you out quicker..), declaring tax etc etc etc 

If you don;t care what he thinks and don;t need a reference then explain to him you'll be having all the stuff in the shed put by the pavement .. and will be using the shed as you see fit.


Arrogant toad!

It sounds to be far more like the estate agent neglected to tell the OP the shed was being used ny the landlord for storage, as it was clearly being used that way while the last tenant was there.  Legally the tenant probably has the right to use the shed, but your reaction is entirely over the top given the story we have been told.

Or the landlord didn't bother to tell the agent in advance but the agent thinks imposing on you is less work than explaining to the landlord they can't randomly clutter the place.   

The agent may well now realise they were told about it and be trying to get out of the fact they have messed up.  Possibly by sending someone uninformed to do the viewing who preferred to say what the OP wanted to hear rather than find stuff out.

jj_43

based upon the extra information provided it does seem rather trivial..

Titus_Wadd

It seems more than trivial to me if the OP was misled about a potential garden workspace and offered more rent based on that misinformation.  I hope you get a decent outcome.