One month to go...

We told our landlord this week that we're moving out when our current lease expires on the 15th August. As our contract didn't state that we had to give a minimum notice period, we were tempted not to give one, but being the nice girls that we are, we've given him a month's notice.

When I say we "told" him, I mean that we phoned him and left a message on his answering machine. He almost never answers his phone. Fair enough, he's probably working if we call him during the day, but I think it's rather more a case of he either can't be bothered to talk to us, or he's actively avoiding talking to us in case we want something fixing. Which he won't fix anyway. Either way, he hasn't bothered phoning us back so he obviously doesn't care that much! In a way, neither do we, but we do want our deposits back pretty soon!

I ask myself, what kind of a business person is he, or indeed all other landlords from hell? Mr. N is a slick, flashy financial advisor who drives a silver Audi TT with a personalised number plate and owns several properties. He's clearly doing very well for himself in monetary terms so you'd think he might know a thing or two about customer service! If I were him, I'd want to keep nice tenants like us. Apart from constantly nagging him to get things fixed (which we wouldn't have to do if he actually did it) we're model tenants. Our rent is always paid on time, we keep the house tidy, we've never had loud parties and in fact, we've actually improved the house ten-fold from the state it was in when we moved in. If I were him, I'd want to secure our tenancy for as long as possible so that the house wasn't left empty, I continued to make money, and my tenants continued to have a happy home. I don't understand the logic!

Oh well, I guess it's his loss! Let the flat-hunt begin! Here's hoping the next landlord is not a landlord from hell... :S