Hi there!
So in my city really hard to find good properties on good prices. I seen a few but they mention no smoking.
We looking for houses with garden I never smoke in house,always so outside! Most people would just lie about it but always try to be fair. I would happy to pay more deposit or whatever. I know ourself we would be really good tenants but I’m afraid about instant reject because I smoke.
The issue is not where you smoke but actually if you smoke or vape .
When a smoker or vaper exhales the air expelled from the respiratory tract is black not clear.
You can see the tar staining in your own finger nails and teeth.
You don’t wash your hands after smoking. Everything you touch gets covered in the residue.
Looking at your hands and dentition one can determine how heavy a smoker you are and how much damage is likely to be incurred.
This results in the walls staining black. The house fabrics have a very distinct odour that is near impossible to get rid of.
White walls are blackened within weeks.
I’ve also seen smokers who don’t smoke with cigarette burns on the window sill !
I don’t class this as fair wear and tear because non smokers and non vapers don’t end up with black houses that need decorating within six months .
The last tenant who ‘did not smoke’ in the house had his ash tray nailed into the external wall by the window !
The room needed three coats to get back to a good standard !!
Every room he used needed two to three coats to get back to normal.
The only rooms needing a single coat were the housemates and the living room.
Curtains and netting were ruined.
The carpets stank. They were professionally washed three times in four months to get rid of the odour !!!
The tenant masked the smell with plug in air fresheners, which themselves, are a fire hazard, eat electric and are carcinogenic.
His room still stinks of paraben containing chemicals 12 months down the line. Parabens are carcinogenic!!
Now the new tenants will be inhaling them !!!
Smoking and these air fresheners are a fire hazard and may adversely affect insurance policies.
If you are serious I would offer to pay decorating and cleaning costs upfront. These days that’s several thousand pounds !!
Sorry but with landlords being dictated to left right and centre meaning they have little say over their own property, and absolutely no means of covering even minimal damage from the meagre 5 week deposit cap, being able to specify no smoking to protect your property from very costly nicotine damage is the landlords last prerogative. A tenant smoked in our property and we had to decorate everything and carpet/replace flooring throughout at thousands of pounds cost to us which their deposit barely scratched the surface of. They claimed to only smoke outside but the evidence of yellow walls and ceilings was clear, not to mention the nasty brown film all over the windows. Even after thorough cleaning, decorating and re-carpeting there was still a residual smell which which resulted in non smoking tenants not wanting to rent it and leaving us with a lengthy void period. If you are struggling to find somewhere to rent, perhaps look into a service to help you quit? There are plenty of free support services available. Not only is it better for your health and pocket, but you are less likely to struggle to find a suitable home to rent as I suspect unless you find a landlord that doesn’t give a toss about their property (meaning it will probably be sub standard condition) you’ll struggle to find somewhere suitable. Oh and non smokers can ALWAYS tell a smoker so even if you lie about it they will probably know.
We used to have a neighbour who smoked. Even though he never smoked in our house when he visited, the smell of smoke from him lingered for several hours after he had gone. It gets everywhere!
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