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Writer's pictureBea Biechowiak

CAN IT GET ANY WORSE…?

After 30 plus years (for my partner) and 16 years for me we are being kicked out of the house. The reason? The Landlord is selling the house. You might think, nothing special about that, but when you get to know the history of this Landlord-Tenant relationship, you might just change your mind.

The very first Landlord, when my partner moved in in early 90s, was an elderly gentleman. I’m going to call him Mr. G. Fantastic guy. My partner was facing homelessness at some point in his youth. He was lucky to meet Mr. G., who as it happened was an owner of a few properties in town. More to that, it was down to pure luck that he had one, a bit run down property, not really suitable for an official rental, but for a young, homeless lad that was not a problem. The property was indeed in vast disrepair, but Mr. G. and my partner agreed that they will together bring it up to some basic standard in return for a low rent and support. Mr. G. delivered above expectancy and soon the house could officially be called home.

It is a very old building and to be let officially, it required a lot of work. The wood was being eaten by woodworms and there was no insulation. Back windows were still wooden and a bit rotten. The boiler was ancient. There was a huge hole in the floor. in the under stairs cabinet. At some point, the ceiling in the living room fell down, after a heavy rainfall, but Mr. G. was there and they fixed the problem in no time. What I am trying to say is, that was the period when things were great even when they were not. I moved in mid 2000s. Met the Landlord, who was happy to attach me to the household. Life was great.

A few years after I moved in, the Old Landlord died. He was very ill and he knew that the time came to sort out his affairs We had a meeting with him shortly before he passed. He reassured us that our tenancy is well secured, and we need not to worry about our future. Soon after his funeral though the rollercoaster begun. There was a long, long debate between Mr. G’s children, about who is going to inherit the house with us – tenants. It was keeping us on our toes, as we were wondering what is going to happen next. In the meantime, we had no idea who to pay the rent (which we normally did in cash – an envelope into our Landlord’s letter box). We carried on doing it using the door in his daughter’s house.

When the Family finally decided, it unleashed the Devil. But I will get to it in the next post

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