Until recently I was renting a flat from a well-known estate agent.
I chose to go through an agent as I wanted to avoid the hassle and torment of dealing directly with a landlord.
I’ve never managed to rid myself of the memory of one repugnant landlord who would simply let himself in whenever the fancy took him, including one particular occasion when my girlfriend was alone and in the bath, for God’s sake.
That action prompted a heated exchange between us, in which he finally got the message that he was to turn up only when prearranged, but I vowed that day to always put as much distance between landlord and tenant as possible from then on.
I’d thought my renting days were blissfully behind me but circumstances change and the need once more arose to dwell in the house of another. This time I didn’t even want to hear the dreaded L word.
The letting agency was the very model of efficiency when taking my money – and plenty of it, too, but that’s what happens when you rent and it wasn’t unexpected.
Yet more circumstances and the commencement of roadworks at the nearby Green Road roundabout (I once set off in my car and after 25 minutes could look over my shoulder and still see my house) meant that I found myself in the agency’s offices seeking an early termination of my six month contract.
The deal was that they would advertise the property but until it was let, I would still have to pay the rent.
Oh, and they wanted upwards of £500 to ‘go towards’ the advert.
Several years ago, I’m sure there would have been a cost involved in putting a rental property back on the market - although for £500 they could probably charter a private plane and fly a banner around the city.
But these days, just who are they kidding? All they actually have to do is republish the property on their website, automatically firing out email alerts to everyone waiting for such a thing to come up.
I bet they had half a dozen interested parties contacting them before the afternoon was out.
And don’t even get me started on the numerous delays in returning my deposit. A cheque finally dropped through the letterbox of my new house some 15 weeks and countless phone calls after moving out.
If I ever need to rent again, I’ll do it directly through a landlord.
He’d be welcome in at any time.