Utility issues part 2

The second part of the utilities and services series. Also update from the first post back here. I got a letter from NPower last week to say sorry they had not been able to resolve my problem, complaint has been raised etc etc. Great, only they sent it to the wrong address, our landlord dropped it off to us. I tell you it's like a comedy of errors, they've had another email from me. 

Issue two - You are not allowed to get a new service installed, or change existing suppliers.

Our first place had cable TV already installed, but they wouldn't let us get internet! We got one of those mobile internet dongles for the laptop but this was back when they were pretty new and it was rubbish. Looking back now I would have fought them more on that and insisted they let us get internet installed, it would actually not have affected the place that much as the cable company should have been able to use the existing holes and it wouldn't have meant any work on the walls. I was only 20 at the time though and pretty much just did what the agents said (how times have changed!). If you are in this situation some steps you could take are:

• If you are offering to get a service connected that is not available already, then highlight how this would benefit them in future. For example I'm sure that maisonette must have internet by now, as nowadays I’d never rent a place that didn't have internet! So if they had let us put it in when we asked it might have saved them a cost doing it themselves. This would be the main attraction for a landlord, say if you want to install satellite TV, when you move out this can be something to add to the advertisement that it has satellite TV installed already.
• If you feel that it is essential to your living requirements, for example you work from home and need internet connection, then make it clear that you expect this to be possible, don’t feel bad making demands. If you are offering to pay for and arrange the installation, and it doesn't mean putting holes in the walls or otherwise damaging the property then there is no reason you shouldn't be able to get new services and utilities installed. 
• If they still say no and you feel it is a reasonable requirement, then get into the contract, does it say anywhere in there it is not allowed? What is the wording on services and utilities? Get legal advice if you can. Unfortunately you don’t always win, but any reasonable landlord should let you get basic stuff installed, it’s a shame but we got so sick of the agents and restrictions at the maisonette we moved out.
• What is a reasonable request? Gas, electricity, drainage and water are all basic requirements and it should be in your contract that the landlord is responsible for maintaining these. When it comes to TV and internet although it is something most households have it probably isn't in your contract. The best thing is to ask before you move in what the situation is, but if you've already moved in and they are saying no you might have a fight on your hands
• Back in this post I covered not being allowed to change utility providers. You should be allowed to change the provider to one of your choosing, the landlord or lettings agent cannot dictate where you get your gas or electricity supply.

We also stayed with the same suppliers that the maisonette was with for gas and electricity and I had a terrible experience with the electricity company. More on that back here. Part 3 on working around restrictions from the building/landlord coming soon. 

Our Pets

I realised recently that while I talk about our pets a lot and there have been some photos of the turtle tank, and the cats do like to photobomb my pictures quite a lot, I haven't actually introduced them for those of you that haven't met them in person. Warning - This post really is just gratuitous pictures of our pets :).

Excuse some of the bad photos they are old phone photos taken pre blog, also I know I'm wearing the same hoodie in 2 of those photos, they were taken on different days (actually over a year apart!) that's just my scruffy hoodie that I wear at home when I'm a bit cold. It may have originally belonged to my friend Sam, who is 25 today, happy birthday!

We got our turtles years ago now when we lived in our second house, they looked like this at the time, were about the size of a 50p coin and lived in a small tank.

They've now doubled or tripled in size and live in the 4ft tank in our office, which we got 2nd hand for around £60 and one day would like to replace with a more modern one.

One is fat and the other is still a bit smaller (We think he's the boy as females tend to be bigger). Hence why they aren't often called their actual names of Michaelangelo and Rafael, but we mainly call them Fatty and The Little One.

They get on most of the time, or just leave each other alone, but sometimes Fatty does have a go at The Little one, mostly when it's coming up for feeding time. She also likes to dive off of the top of the tall ornamet, she climbs up then throws herself off the top. I have no idea why, as they they bask on top of the smaller barrell ornament so I don't know if she's trying to get closer to the light or just doing it for fun!

We got our cats about 2 years ago now, they were rescue cats and were 5 when we got them. They came as a pair, and their owner had died. They had been left in her house for about a year with her son going in to feed them, so when we got them they were a little anti-social, and really only associated food with human contact. Minty still is quite keen to be fed all the time (If you go anywhere near her bowl she is there meowing and getting under your feet), but she was quite fat when we got them so has been on a bit of a diet since and is not happy about it. Minty came around to her new home and to us quite quickly and was up on the sofa sitting on our laps within a few days, and she still really is a lap cat, I have to push her away when I'm trying to type as she always wants to sit on my lap in the desk chair and there's not enough room for my legs under our tiny desk let alone her as well. Look at that face though...

Jazzie on the other hand didn't come out from under the built in TV stand we had at the time for weeks, I started leaving food and water in front of it as I was worried she'd starve! Eventually one night she poked her head out and looked at us, then a few nights later she ventured out to eat while we were in the room. After this she gradually started being ok around us as long as we were sat down and quiet, she didn't come near us but was happy to be in the room with us for short periods of time. Then on my birthday (3 months after we got them) she randomly just jumped up into my lap! I was so stunned I took a photo on my phone and sent it to Tom

Since then she's gotten more and more affectionate and now she gets up on the sofa with us most evenings, although she still is quite timid and if we get up or make sudden movements or loud noises she runs away, and she never has sat actually in my lap again she just sits next to us now.
Although she is quite timid with us and is smaller than Minty we think Jazzie really is the boss

She is the one we have also had to take to the vets after getting in a fight and the one that always wants to go outside and spends nights outside. Minty will go outside but doesn't go very far at all and hates to be shut out, she'll follow us out in the summer and sit on our laps outside but she's a bit of a wuss really.

They do love each other really

However we do make sure they each have their own bowls, beds etc because they do sometimes fight, and we suspect that a recent trip to the vets for Minty was caused by a bite from Jazzie so we don't want to encourage any upset between them.

We also temporarily had a 3rd cat for a year, as Toms mum moved into a rented house and couldn't take her cat with her so we looked after her. Her name is Tinker, we thought she was a boy (And Tom and his family had thought she was a boy for 10 years!) until the vet informed us she was a girl. She is a lot more vocal than our cats, she never shuts up actually, and she's quite a lot smaller and more handleable. Our cats like to be fussed but hate to be picked up or restrained, Tinker loves to be cuddled!

Tinker now lives in our old house with Toms Dad, we didn't take her with us to the new house as 2 cats were hard enough to find a place for, 3 was impossible and would be quite cramped in a one bedroom flat any way. Also our cats never really accepted Tinker, she never really asserted herself with them and they were quite horrible to her, so we thought it best that she had a place to herself again. Tinker taught our cats to meow, so they both now are much louder, she also taught them to talk to birds. They used to sit on the windowsill and make this weird noise, calling to the birds, it sounds exactly like what you'd expect a cat doing an impression of a bird would sound like and it was hilarious! Search on YouTube for 'cat calling to birds' and there are loads of videos, but our 2 never did it before Tinker arrived and showed them how.

Also under surrogate pets are the 2 dogs we used to look after occasionally to keep my wanting to get a dog under control, firstly Charles the labrador who is owned by Toms friend Chris.

He used to come and stay every now and then, but while I loved having him he was a little big for our small house (He pretty much trashed the place) and the cats hated him so he never stayed for more than one night. Also check out the kitchen floor at our old place, orange and cream with brown baseboards, snazzy huh?

We also had my dog (Well my mums dog) Stella come and stay for a few nights

As you can see she immediately made herself at home, she's smaller and getting on now so a lot calmer than Charles, the cats actually didn't seem to mind her so much and we talked with my mum about us looking after her while she was on holiday etc but unfortunately now we've moved we won't be able to do this as no dogs allowed in the new place.

So that's our little gang, I know some of you want more on renting with pets and househunting experiences with pets etc so once I have put that all together I'll share it.

History

So after the tour of our new place I should probably give a brief history of our properties and our current place. I'll go into details on each type of property, our experiences and what I would do differently in future posts.

Tom and I moved into our current flat at the start of December last year. It's a lower ground floor one bedroom in a regency house near the town centre. The landlord lives in the house above and we rent directly from them, the flat is self contained, i.e. we have our own front door, back door, garden and utilities.

Before this our property history is:

1. I first lived with my sister in a 2 bedroom maisonette on the outskirts of the city rented through an estate agent, Tom then moved in and my sister moved out and moved in with her boyfriend (Although there was a crossover time when all 3 of us lived there). Renting via this estate agent was not a good experience for us, I am in no way saying all estate agents are like this but we did not get along with them at all - more on this later.
2. We moved to a small one bedroom house in the suburbs with a garden rented via a private landlord who was very professional and lovely to deal with. This is where we got the turtles, as they stay in the tank at all times unless we are cleaning it most landlords seem to have no issues with them.
3. We rented from a family member, a 2 bedroom bungalow with a garden and garage in another area of the suburbs. Now, I'm not going to describe this place as I don't want to start out on a negative note before this blog even gets any followers, but definately more on the skeletons in this particular closet in a future post(s)! However I'd say what we learnt is that renting from family is the same as borrowing money from family or friends, and the same cautions apply. This is when we got our cats which I admit has restricted us for future properties.
4. In the end we were given our notice to move out and we found our current place and all lived happily ever after so far...