Housemate advice

Thanks for all your replies guys, didn't expect to see so many so soon!

We have a shared tenancy agreement and yes it is against the tenancy agreement to smoke in the house.
We all read and signed the agreement together at the agents office.

I've spoken with the landlord a few times and he seems like a decent guy, but I couldn't say how he would react over this.

We've got until the end of June until the tenancy agreement is up for renewal, and we already planned to either move out without him, or to tell him we are moving but actually stay, as the house is fairly decent for what we want at the moment, we do have another friend who would replace him too.

RE the bills, we have a shared account we each put money into each week / month for the bills and it goes out from there, apart from the electric / gas which is a meter so we top up manually, but I keep track of that so we each top up fairly.

Malevolence said:
**** like this makes me wonder just how we managed to survive before the internet.
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Things were cheaper and people could afford to buy there own homes much sooner, so they could do what they liked in their own homes, unfortunately that isn't the case today.
Also, this is my first time renting, so I have a lot to learn, unfortunately I don't know everything, yet.
 
Jasoncmor said:
We've got until the end of June until the tenancy agreement is up for renewal, and we already planned to either move out without him, or to tell him we are moving but actually stay, as the house is fairly decent for what we want at the moment, we do have another friend who would replace him too.
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I suspect that if you can coordinate it with the landlord then that could be the simplest all round - the landlord wants his rent/doesn't want his house ruined, the three of you staying + having a replacement saves him hassle.

I guess you guys could still ask him to move out sooner too and let him know that you're not going to be renewing the contract with him/are potentially going to look elsewhere.
 
Malevolence said:
**** like this makes me wonder just how we managed to survive before the internet.
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If I had the OP's problem before the internet, I would have been asking people for advice, be it family, friends, work colleagues (some of which I'm only acquainted with). That can be face-to-face or using a communications device like a telephone. So in the internet age, I don't see it much different by asking the question on a forum using a communications device like a computer, and I think it's a fairly reasonable question. It's not a question like "how do I change my car wheel?" when something like that can be easily searched for on YouTube for a tutorial video.
 
Mason- said:
Another point, guy sounds depressed. If you have his parents number can you contact them and tell them how he lives. I bet he tells them on the phone that he's fine but I doubt they know how he really lives.
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Jesus, really!? don't be ringing his parents. He's a typical lazy, depressed, disgusting student. Perfectly normal.
 
If you dont tell the landlord now I guarantee he is gonna put you all on the block for anything that needs replacing caused by the smoking and mess in his room.

It's against the agreement there's more of you than him stop being a bitch and get it done.
 
Get your own house then you can control whether someone smokes in it or not.
 
From his perspective, he probably thinks he's being reasonable by only smoking in his room.
As someone who smoked for 25 years I can tell you that he will have no idea about how bad it smells to non-smokers, and how far the smell spreads. To his mind, staying in the one room and using body spray/air freshener to cover it up would seem perfectly fair.

You need to be firm with him that smoking inside is against the terms of the tenancy agreement that he signed up to, and explain the consequences of breaching that agreement - not only eviction, but the additional fee the landlord will want to cover a deep clean once you've all left which would come out of deposits.

Perhaps you could also get him a vape as a group present. At least then the house would smell of peaches/bananas/whatever instead of tobacco
 
lakitu said:
Jesus, really!? don't be ringing his parents. He's a typical lazy, depressed, disgusting student. Perfectly normal.
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Sorry for caring about someone’s wellbeing. Not washing clothes and bedding, living off take away and being anti social aren’t normal student things. Not to that extent.

I’ll let OP make the judgement call he knows his situation best.
 
Jasoncmor said:
yes it is against the tenancy agreement to smoke in the house.
We all read and signed the agreement together at the agents office.
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Respect it and ask for it to be enforced. Why have you tolerated the situation for so long? Tenant up and stop relaying on social influence to attempt to solve your problems.
 
Having had this exact problem with 5 housemates in 7 years I have been forced to start believing that yes, smokers are inconsiderate and selfish. I very slowly modified my stance as it happened again and again. We got to the point of telling potential housemates they couldn't move in unless they understood that previous ones had been evicted because of it. "I smoke but never in the house" was written on one person's online profile. Within a week, smoking and then lying about it to our faces. I buy a pack of smokes 4/5 times a year but it's true, **** smokers.

Tell him you want him to find a new place by June. Simultaneously threaten him with telling landlord/asking for removal if he doesn't stop in the meantime. No excuses, don't give him any rope. I feel for you as it's made my home life ******* miserable for long periods.
 
Mason- said:
Sorry for caring about someone’s wellbeing. Not washing clothes and bedding, living off take away and being anti social aren’t normal student things. Not to that extent.

I’ll let OP make the judgement call he knows his situation best.
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Well done for caring. Maybe the OP should talk to him again instead of phoning his parents. He's an adult, you don't need to speak to his mum because you think he should wash his clothes more.
 
Adam said:
You can't seriously think this person's behaviour is acceptable and considerate to his fellow housemates?
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No I don't, but the obvious long term solution is to get his own place (who's to say the new replacement housemate wont be a **** as well?).
 
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