On Not Growing Weed 😏

So…the letting agent never gave me a time that they’d come around. They simply woke me up with their knocking as I slept late from the anxiety of it all. Then they started letting themselves in whilst I was still in bed. I had a couple of doorstops under the door and a bench leant against it, so they didn’t manage to come fully in. The door has a lock but the letting agent has a key. She’s done that before, randomly starting to come in once with 4 students she was showing round the house. She wanted to show them my room despite the fact I had no intention of leaving. And…she had no permission at all.

And…the landlord was just as aggressive and completely irrational as yesterday. Again he immediately started pointing at things, saying “You’re growing weed! It’s obvious what you are doing”, pointing at my fan, the heater (which was off anyway), the plastic jugs/containers of water on the floor, getting right in my face. I asked him what would be in those containers if I was growing weed, and he said some kind of chemical. So I picked one up and took a swig from it whilst looking at him, and of course, he looked down at his phone the entire time. I did it again and he still refused to look at me. I also told him to phone the police if he thought I was growing weed, and he said they would.

Then he started a video call with somebody from the council, showing them my plants and saying “What does that look like to you…?”

And the man from the council said: “Plants. Houseplants.”

Then the landlord complained that there was other stuff in here yesterday, like the lights, as if I was trying to conceal the fact I was growing weed. And I simply told him that they’d asked me to take them down, so I had!

Then I started telling the landlord how ridiculous and rude he was being, accusing me of all these things that I haven’t done, and that I’d done nothing wrong and he just has a problem with me for some reason.

The letting agent woman dragged him out of the room and came back 5 mins later, saying the landlord had gone. She said they were going to take another meter reading in a month and if it was high, then I’d be directly blamed for it. They still don’t understand that the plant lights together use less power than the ceiling bulb I don’t use. And my housemates always leave incandescent lights on everywhere, as well as windows open and heating on full. Nevertheless I am reducing electricity use as much as possible now.

She also told me I owed them £451 because I was supposed to pay them £41.08 a month towards bills. What happened was my dad paid 6 months up front when I moved in here in December 2019 (which I didn’t know about, or forgot about. I was on death’s door at the time mentally). Then the council randomly sent a letter about it 1 month ago in March 2021, saying I was in arrears on bills but not how much by.

I’ve been through the tenancy agreement (which is with the council) again and the list of my obligations is very clear, there are only 2 kinds of payments to be made which I’ve been doing. There’s a reference to a bills payment in the letting agent handbook, saying that the amount would be specified in the tenancy agreement, but it isn’t mentioned anywhere. The contract is exactly what I’ve been using as my source of truth for what I need to be on top of, and of course I’ve budgeted around that. And it makes no sense why the council would’ve waited 11 months to send me a first warning letter! I’m still waiting for the council to get back to me about this letter— I emailed them twice 1 month ago, as soon as I received the letter, using the email address on the letter. They seem to not care. 🤷‍♂️

A friend suggested getting the lock on my room door changed because the landlord/letting agent are basically harassing me. It’s an interesting idea…I’d definitely have a lot more peace of mind if I knew they couldn’t just randomly come in whenever they want. Also I should phone the police next time. In fact I’m reporting the landlord and letting agent to the police and council tomorrow.

I think it’s reasonable that I start paying this bills contribution if the council amends the contract to clearly state the obligation and the amount there, but not the £450 in arrears which they’ve surprised me with.

🌪