Question for landlords: lodgers and cleaning

caprikid1

"This lead me to leaving without having coffee in the morning as I can get it at work with less hassle - we do have a kitchenette"

Travel cup ?

Feels like this is not the right place for you as you and your landlord have different expectations.

Emily_Joy

caprikid1 said:

"This lead me to leaving without having coffee in the morning as I can get it at work with less hassle - we do have a kitchenette"

Travel cup ?

Feels like this is not the right place for you as you and your landlord have different expectations.

Yes, on occasions when I go to Waitrose in the evening, I tend to fill a travel cup/thermos with coffee for me to have it the following morning, so that I don't need to use the kitchen. 

Jude57

Emily_Joy said:

caprikid1 said:

"This lead me to leaving without having coffee in the morning as I can get it at work with less hassle - we do have a kitchenette"

Travel cup ?

Feels like this is not the right place for you as you and your landlord have different expectations.

Yes, on occasions when I go to Waitrose in the evening, I tend to fill a travel cup/thermos with coffee for me to have it the following morning, so that I don't need to use the kitchen. 

If you're not showering/bathing in the home, not cooking or even having a hot drink in the mornings, arrive back at 9pm presumably having eaten elsewhere, bringing a hot drink home in a travel cup and spend most weekends at your own home, what, exactly, are you paying rent for? A bed for the night? You'd be better off in a cheap hotel or guest house and at least cleaning would be factored into the nightly charge. You could surely find something more suitable than this situation which I can't see improving if the home owner is policing your every move and keeps changing their expectations of you as a lodger. By all means you should clear up after yourself but it's unreasonable to expect a lodger to deep clean anything but the room/s they have sole use of.

Many years ago when I had two lodgers in my three bedroomed home, all three of us working full time, I thought it reasonable that all three of us split the cleaning of the communal areas between us. One lodger disagreed and flatly refused but suggested we get a cleaner and split THAT cost three ways, which is what we did. It was great coming in from work on cleaning day to a spotless house and our cleaner was extremely meticulous, even cleaning windows! 

Emily_Joy

Jude57 said:

Emily_Joy said:

caprikid1 said:

"This lead me to leaving without having coffee in the morning as I can get it at work with less hassle - we do have a kitchenette"

Travel cup ?

Feels like this is not the right place for you as you and your landlord have different expectations.

Yes, on occasions when I go to Waitrose in the evening, I tend to fill a travel cup/thermos with coffee for me to have it the following morning, so that I don't need to use the kitchen. 

If you're not showering/bathing in the home, not cooking or even having a hot drink in the mornings, arrive back at 9pm presumably having eaten elsewhere, bringing a hot drink home in a travel cup and spend most weekends at your own home, what, exactly, are you paying rent for? A bed for the night? You'd be better off in a cheap hotel or guest house and at least cleaning would be factored into the nightly charge.

I have asked myself those questions. Cheap hotel is not an option unfortunately - we are in Surrey and everything is somewhat expensive. I get to keep my stuff there so that I can do the laundry and don't have to take clothes back home. I also don't go back home every weekend - only when the job permits. The last couple of weekends I had to work so stayed there.

When you had a cleaner, they didn't come every day, I suppose?

I was thinking that because the landlord is not working they naturally spent most of the time at home, so they are more irritated by things that wouldn't bother them otherwise (perhaps...)

DullGreyGuy

Jude57 said:
You'd be better off in a cheap hotel or guest house and at least cleaning would be factored into the nightly charge. 

not sure there are many places where a cheap hotel is comparable in cost to renting a room as a lodger?

Have seen/known lodging arrangements where it is room with ensuite only or room + bathroom only with no right to the rest of the property. Given it's just a crashpad that sort of arrangement may be better so there is no arguments about shared area cleaning. 

HobgoblinBT

You sound like a good lodger to me.  You make minimal use of the facilities, make minimal mess which you clean up and are hardly there yet you pay the rent.  If this was the landlord posting I suspect many would say that they are not suited to having a lodger.

Schwarzwald

Emily_Joy said:

[...] For instance, if I make a cup of coffee in the morning, then I tend to wash the mug, and put it to dry on a drying rack. This apparently does irritate the landlord and they want me to dry it with the towel and put it away in the cupboard allocated to me. Same applies to everything else. I have been asked to bring my own cutlery/cookery etc.[...]

if the LL is serious about such (unreasonable) requests, i would simply move and find a LL who has more realistic expecation about what it means to have a lodger and to share communal areas

Schwarzwald

elsien said:

[...] I’m not seeing why the landlord losing their job is particularly relevant to your question? [...]

it has some relevance i guess.
the LL now spends much more time at home.
potentially disgruntled about their own situation.
gives the LL more time to get annoyed about small things and/or anybody as a valve for their own misery.

dannim12345

Sounds like you don’t use many of facilities or are around that much but you do use the bathroom and walk on the floor so say maybe once a month when you are around at the weekend run the vacuum around the shared areas or clean the bathroom just to show slightly meeting in the middle?   If you don’t feel comfortable and/or the cleaning becomes a big issue maybe time to find somewhere else. 

BobT36

ThisIsWeird said:

You are renting a room in someone else's home. Imo, you should not be expected to 'deep clean' their home, or the rooms you share; all of these rooms are the homeowners, and they should arrange to keep them clean.

Your sole room is your bedroom - that room is your responsibility. If you do have sole use of any other room, then - yes - you should also keep it clean.

Of course, any specific mess you make, you clean it up. From what you say - the long working hours, the lack of cooking you do in that kitchen, being away at weekends, etc - would suggest to me absolutely minimal additional 'dirt' from you. So, the dirt that actually requires this 'deep-cleaning' will be occurring regardless of your presence. So, they 'deep-clean' just the way they always have, before they had lodgers.

And do take your shoes off next time - don't give them an excuse!

This. Take off your shoes if been outside, why wouldn't you, !!!!!!? Imagine coming downstairs and seeing mud bits everywhere because your lodger has tromped through the house with their shoes on because they couldn't be bothered..

Otherwise, clean your room / areas you rent, and pick up after yourself / clean any mess YOU have made elsewhere. They shouldn't expect more than that if it's a. Not in the contract, and b. You're not around to make any mess (besides the aforementioned). 

You keep mentioning all these little bits (hair and the rest) that are a "hassle". Simply pick up after yourself! Make the situation that they're suffering no negative consequences from your presence, and then there isn't even an argument. Not being bothered is not an excuse. Why should they have to clean up your hair? If you do leave ANY mess than you should indeed be sharing. Otherwise, not your problem.