No Smoking In Rented House

dlambirl

Hi all,

Are landlords allowed to stipulate NO SMOKING for tenants in their houses??
If they can, does it have to be wrote in the lease??

superbad50

i would imagine they have the right to say to you that smoking is not allowed within the premises and i would imagine it would be wise of him to have in contract for legal reasons .

pooch90

Sorry to dig up an old thread but can anyone shed any light on this? Confirm/deny? Landlord acting the pr!ck so just wondering if they can stipulate this. Surely as it is your dwelling you are entitled to conduct yourself as you please, within boundaries of the law and once you're not a nuisance to anyone.

Doop

They can put it in the lease if they like... which you agree to by signing,

In fairness smoking does increase wear and tear and I can understand the stipulation, (am a smoker myself by the way). Yellowing ceilings, stinking fruniture, possible burns etc.

The_Conductor

There may be a difference in house insurance if one or more of the occupants are smokers.

ricman

Smoke outside, or open window when smoking, or find another flat, theres loads of rental accomodation avaidable.

steve22

i dont even smoke in my own house anymore... you get used to going outside... or if its p!ssing rain just standing at the door. Its better to keep the smell of smoke out of the house as much as possible.

Cathmandooo

I would imagine smoking in a rented house would add to the likelihood of not getting your deposit back. Smoking indoors stinks out furniture, carpets, curtains etc and can discolour paint which would be damage beyond normal wear and tear and require special cleaning or even replacement.

Smoke outside, it's not that difficult.

pooch90

Thanks for replies, it's just that they're taking the piss with new lease they've given us and I just wanted to know where I stood before telling them they can re-write it. Unfortunately, no other homes to rent in area we live in so just leaving isn't really an option. We'll just continue as we are regards the smoking, absolutely no damage done and house always well aired.

thanks again

Terri26

Yes they can - people who smoke don't realise how bad it is. As a non-smoker most times I can smell if someone has smoked somewhere even if it was. Even in my own house which is non smoking I can smell when my housemates are outside smoking if my widnow is open upstairs. If the landlord allows smoking he is instantly making it less appealing to the next tenant.

GerardKeating

pooch90 wrote: »

Sorry to dig up an old thread but can anyone shed any light on this? Confirm/deny? Landlord acting the pr!ck so just wondering if they can stipulate this.

Anyone can put almost any clause in a legal contract, if you want to rent the property, you have to agree to the contract.

pooch90 wrote: »

Surely as it is your dwelling you are entitled to conduct yourself as you please, within boundaries of the law and once you're not a nuisance to anyone.

But it's not yours, it's the landlord property...

Paulw

pooch90 wrote: »

We'll just continue as we are regards the smoking, absolutely no damage done and house always well aired.

Just then be prepared for the landlord to use some of your deposit to properly clean the house when you leave. Don't automatically expect all your deposit back.

Cathmandooo

Paulw wrote: »

Just then be prepared for the landlord to use some of your deposit to properly clean the house when you leave. Don't automatically expect all your deposit back.

+ if it's in your lease that you're not to smoke in the property you're breaking the conditions of the lease.

Depending on the terms of the lease you could be evicted for not complying with obligations of the tenancy.

KillerKity

I personally wouldn't rent a place to a smoker. Living with one at the moment and it's a nightmare. She only smokes in her room but the stale smell goes throughout the house. Smoke damages fabrics and stains walls so if you smoke in the house there's no way you should get your full deposit back

Victor

pooch90 wrote: »

Sorry to dig up an old thread but can anyone shed any light on this? Confirm/deny? Landlord acting the pr!ck so just wondering if they can stipulate this. Surely as it is your dwelling you are entitled to conduct yourself as you please, within boundaries of the law and once you're not a nuisance to anyone.

Yes they can stipulate it. Would you have a problem if they said "no indoor barbeques"?

Glenalla

dlambirl wrote: »

Hi all,

Are landlords allowed to stipulate NO SMOKING for tenants in their houses??
If they can, does it have to be wrote in the lease??

Just got my apartment back after 1 year lease and all carpets burnt kitchen floor burnt, living room beech floor burnt, french polished dining table burnt and bedside lockers burnt all by cigarettes. Have been advised by agent to include no smoking clause in future. Bond wont look at damage.

00112984

Glenalla wrote: »

Just got my apartment back after 1 year lease and all carpets burnt kitchen floor burnt, living room beech floor burnt, french polished dining table burnt and bedside lockers burnt all by cigarettes. Have been advised by agent to include no smoking clause in future. Bond wont look at damage.

Absolutely include a no-smoking clause. When I used to rent, not only did my landlord have a no smoking clause but also one forbidding me from lighting candles! He'd had a bad experience with tenants in another property causing damage with burns and wax stains. Seemed pretty fair to me. If I wanted to smoke/light candles, I could do so, just not in that apartment! Free market and all of that.

Astro Zombie

I would never, ever rent a house/flat that was non smoking. Ive turned places down for that reason. Why should you have to get pneumonia just cause your landlord doesnt like the smell? Don't take any guff from those swines.

Glenalla

Astro Zombie wrote: »

I would never, ever rent a house/flat that was non smoking. Ive turned places down for that reason. Why should you have to get pneumonia just cause your landlord doesnt like the smell? Don't take any guff from those swines.

Glad you stay away it means we get our houses back in good shape! btw its not the smell its the BURNS!

Astro Zombie

Any one with any sense wouldnt be burning stuff. its not hard to hold on to your cig when your smoking. Ive never done any damage smoking.

Sir Oxman

Glenalla wrote: »

Just got my apartment back after 1 year lease and all carpets burnt kitchen floor burnt, living room beech floor burnt, french polished dining table burnt and bedside lockers burnt all by cigarettes. Have been advised by agent to include no smoking clause in future. Bond wont look at damage.

Did you or your agent not check the place once during the year?
More than a little lax if you didn't.

Glenalla

gambiaman wrote: »

Did you or your agent not check the place once during the year?
More than a little lax if you didn't.

Didnt use agent till now to re let it and when it was checked by me before all damage was conveniently covered. Learned my lesson.

Doop

Astro Zombie wrote: »

Any one with any sense wouldnt be burning stuff. its not hard to hold on to your cig when your smoking. Ive never done any damage smoking.

Have to agree with you there, I currently do smoke indoors and never burn anything, its pretty easy to be careful specially when you've spent 5000 euro on a couch!

I dont think its fair to tar (scuse the pun!) all smokers with the attitude that they burn everything... its lazy/careless people that burn things. And regards the smell if the place gets a proper airing every while it wont smell. Saying that its easier to include a clause saying no smoking so as not to run the risk of damage. And then if there is damage least it was already in the lease.

Dirty rotten smokers

The_Conductor

Astro Zombie wrote: »

I would never, ever rent a house/flat that was non smoking. Ive turned places down for that reason. Why should you have to get pneumonia just cause your landlord doesnt like the smell? Don't take any guff from those swines.

I on the other hand- would rent any dwelling that I knew had a no-smoking history- far faster than any dwelling that did not. A new tenant may be initially fooled by dry cleaned curtains, freshly painted walls, shampoo'ed carpets etc- but it wouldn't be long before the stench of the previous cigarette smoke began to make its presence felt.

People who smoke take offence at the notion that a landlord may dictate to them that they cannot smoke in a rental property- there is plenty of property out there without such restrictions- its not that difficult to find- I don't see why its an issue. For people with sensetive sense of smell, or young children- and who do not like smoke- the knowledge that the property they are seeking to rent has been smoke free- is a massive plus (not to mention that its far easier for the landlord to not have to try to clean the smoke and nicotene from all surfaces- you'd be amazed at some of the places nicotene seems to like to accumulate (I recently was given a computer to repair that I almost vomitted over from the stench)).

If you want to smoke- that is your perogative- but you have to accept that you have no right to impose the long term effects of your habit on other people who have made a conscious choice to not smoke.

ZYX

Astro Zombie wrote: »

. Why should you have to get pneumonia just cause your landlord doesnt like the smell?.

I love this. Going outside, in the nude in the pouring rain, or in -20 degrees will not in the slightest way increase your risk of pneumonia.

Smoking, on the other hand, no matter where you do it, massively increases your chances of pneumonia.

eightyfish

smccarrick wrote: »

There may be a difference in house insurance if one or more of the occupants are smokers.

A friend-of-a-friend was smoking in his rented house last year, and left a butt on the bed when he went to the bathroom. Burned the house to the ground.

If I was renting a property, there's no way I'd allow smoking inside. And I'm a smoker.

Zamboni

Lots of high horses in here.

Some landlords allow smoking and some don't.
Find the rental property that suits you.

To the OP/Pooch, if it is not stipulated in your lease, smoke away, if it is, tough.

iguana

pooch90 wrote: »

We'll just continue as we are regards the smoking, absolutely no damage done and house always well aired.

That's in your opinion but if you are a smoker or live with a smoker your sense of smell is shot. There obviously is a problem or the landlord wouldn't be adding such a clause to the lease. I'm sorry but most people I know who smoke stink, it can vary from mildly unpleasant to out and out honking and they don't have a clue because they are used to the smell. The odds are your house smells like an ashtray. Whether mildly or really putridly I don't know but airing the place out doesn't get rid of the smell, a non-smoker will still smell it instantly.

In the past I've had parties where I've let people smoke in one room and it takes months for the smell to completely go away. And that's just 6-9 hours of smoking as a one off where I've washed any linens in the room the next day. If there is smoking going on everyday it just permeates everything. And if it's a furnished house then all of the padded furniture, carpets and linens will need replacing before the landlord can re-let.

KillerKity

Astro Zombie wrote: »

Any one with any sense wouldnt be burning stuff. its not hard to hold on to your cig when your smoking. Ive never done any damage smoking.

I find that hard to believe. You never stained walls with the smoke? The lingering smell never stayed in fabrics? There's no way a place can be rented out after a smoker. Our place is having to be re-painted and the carpet on the stairs will have to be scrubbed due to the ignorance of my smoker housemate

convert

KillerKity wrote: »

I personally wouldn't rent a place to a smoker. Living with one at the moment and it's a nightmare. She only smokes in her room but the stale smell goes throughout the house. Smoke damages fabrics and stains walls so if you smoke in the house there's no way you should get your full deposit back

Lived with a girl who used to smoke (when I moved in she stated it was a non-smoking house - that's why I, and the other housemate moved in - and she didn't smoke). She went through a bad patch and took to smoking at least 20 a day. The stink in the house was unbelievable, even though she only smoked in her bedroom and kept the door closed. When she moved out we literally had to leave her bedroom windows open 24/7 in order to get rid of the stink of stale smoke. When our new housemate's mum came up to see the room 2 months later, she could still smell the stale smoke!!

I'd never move into a house again if there wasn't a strict no smoking policy or if it wasn't stipulated in the lease. I completely understand any landlord putting in a no smoking clause. Granted, not all smokers are careless and burn stuff, but the stink that lingers is disgusting, IMO.

Zamboni

So is this just a smoker bashing thread then?

Firetrap

I don't see it that way. I'm seeing people pointing out that if someone does choose to smoke in a house, that it does stink up the furniture, stain the walls etc. If a landlord doesn't want to have smelly furniture and a smoke-stained house on their hands, they're entitled to it. I've been in houses that smokers live in and some of them do really do stink to the high heavens.

Zamboni

Firetrap wrote: »

If a landlord doesn't want to have smelly furniture and a smoke-stained house on their hands, they're entitled to it.

Absolutely. And this is the point, this issue is about whether something is in or not in the lease detail. Some people have decided to ignore this and just go on a rant about how smokers stink. As I said earlier, high horses.

Poor Uncle Tom

I might be on my high horse, but there's a great view from up here...:p

A lot of newer houses and apartments and older renovated ones have incorporated MHRV systems which re-circulate the air throughout. We are all aware of the health risks associated with smoking, but in these cases the risks rise even higher. I think it will get to a stage where a no smoking clause in a rental contract will be the norm.

iguana

Zamboni wrote: »

this issue is about whether something is in or not in the lease detail. Some people have decided to ignore this and just go on a rant about how smokers stink.

But the issue here is that the landlord does want to include this clause in the new lease and the OP has decided to ignore it as they don't think there is a problem.

Graces7

Zamboni wrote: »

Absolutely. And this is the point, this issue is about whether something is in or not in the lease detail. Some people have decided to ignore this and just go on a rant about how smokers stink. As I said earlier, high horses.

But smokers DO stink.. are you denying that?

It is a simple undeniable fact.

So we get called "bashers" for stating simple fact?

The_Conductor

I'd have to hold my hands up and admit I hate smoke and the mess it makes. That aside- lets keep this thread on track. The OP's landlord has stipulated a no-smoking policy in his property- is he allowed to- yes, he is, what can the OP do if they are unhappy with this- move. There are thousands of properties out there without such stipulations- instead of declaring they intend to go against their landlord's wishes.

S.