Do landlords provide Dryers

LFC Murphy

Hi folks,

Just as the question reads, if a tenants asks for a dryer would the landlords out there say yes?

Tenants only in the property a month.

Thanks

starfish12

nope!

messrs

cant imagine so - its not a necessidy

Cathmandooo

Yes they do if there's no outside space for drying.

Taken from Citizen's Information
Link

From 1 February 2009, a landlord must:

Ensure that the house is in a proper state of structural repair. This means that it must be essentially sound with roof, floors, ceilings, walls and stairs in good repair and not subject to serious dampness or rotting. The new Regulations strengthen this requirement with effect from 1 December 2009 (see below)
Provide a sink with hot and cold water
Provide a separate ventilated room with a bath or shower and toilet
Provide heating appliances for every room lived in
Provide facilities for cooking and for the hygienic storage of food, for example, a 4 ring hob with oven and grill, fridge-freezer and microwave oven
Provide clothes washing facilities
Provide clothes drying facilities if there isn’t a garden or a yard
Ensure that electricity or gas supplies are in good repair and safe
Ensure that every room has adequate ventilation and both natural and artificial lighting
Provide a fire blanket and fire alarms
Provide access to vermin-proof and pest-proof refuse storage facilities.

axel rose

You can pick up a dryer for under €200. Is there an issue as to why the tenent is unable to provide their own dryer?

LFC Murphy

The property has a large gated garden at the back. So its ok on that front.

I think is just them seeing if I'll get one? Just wondering on peoples thoughts on it, "good tenants are valuable and should be minded" etc.

So just looking for ideas. We actually dont have one and to be fair €200 is alot at the moment. Plus whats next, dishwasher!

Cathmandooo

If they have a garden then I'd try put them off the idea as much as possible. Maybe volunteer to put up a clothes line or is there already one provided?

You could get a quote on the electricity usage for a dryer, I'd say that's enough to scare anyone off the idea.

Mild

Just moved into a cottage recently. Was only there day or so and realised that the fridge has no freezer compartment. Have mentioned it to landlord but do not know whether to push it and get him to buy one or just get a small freezer myself. Shouldn't all fridges these days have freezer compartments?

Oink

Excellent link from Cathoo upthere. If it's the law, it's the law, no point tiptoeing around the issue.

Honestly, in this day and age, who does not provide a freezer and a dryer?

Do you REALLY have the option to dry your clothes outside in this country??
What do you do if it rains a little everyday for 10 days?

People, there's enough empty places out there at the moment, don't be putting up with crap like that. Of course asking nicely goes a long way, but no freezer? wtf?

Jumpy

If you dont provide a dryer you will get the tenants drying on the rads. This will cause mould issues. Its for your own benefit as well as theirs.

axel rose

Oink wrote: »

Excellent link from Cathoo upthere. If it's the law, it's the law, no point tiptoeing around the issue.

Honestly, in this day and age, who does not provide a freezer and a dryer?

Do you REALLY have the option to dry your clothes outside in this country??
What do you do if it rains a little everyday for 10 days?

People, there's enough empty places out there at the moment, don't be putting up with crap like that. Of course asking nicely goes a long way, but no freezer? wtf?

I must be an animal so. Seriously Op if you cant afford €200 to buy a dryer then you cant afford to run a dryer. Buy a clothes horse and use that. (Its what plebs like me use). It is a lot better for your clothes.

REXER

What a struggle, trying to dragging the Irish landlords into the 20th century when it's the 21st century.
Landlords in this country have got away with outragously low standards for far too long.

who_ru

REXER wrote: »

What a struggle, trying to dragging the Irish landlords into the 20th century when it's the 21st century.
Landlords in this country have got away with outragously low standards for far too long.

they have gotten away with low standards because the have been allowed to by law.

convert

I've lived in a number of different rented properties over the years and I've generally found that the landlord of an apartment will normally provide a dryer, usually a washer/dryer, landlords of a house, which has a garden and clothes line) will usually just provide a clothes washer.

If there's a clothes line and/or a clothes horse, then there isn't really an issue. I managed to survive for a whole 3 years in a house with no dryer. It's amazing the amount of drying you can do outside during the winter (it's actually the summer that tends to be wettest), while a clothes horse inside dries the clothes very quickly, with radiators coming to the rescue in an emergency (not the most ideal, perhaps, but effective).

For the last year I lived in one house, I managed to acquire a clothes dryer, and found that the electricity bill rocketed (though that was mostly due to an idiot of a housemate who didn't seem able to plan her clothes washing at all, and then would have the washer and dryer running all day for two or three days every so often simply because she needed them in an 'emergency' (i.e. a night on the town!) :mad:

gurramok

axel rose wrote: »

I must be an animal so. Seriously Op if you cant afford €200 to buy a dryer then you cant afford to run a dryer. Buy a clothes horse and use that. (Its what plebs like me use). It is a lot better for your clothes.

A washer-dryer would sort it out. As Jumpy says with regards to an apt with no outdoor space or restricted by house rules, would the landlord really want their apt to be destroyed by dampness?

Its an own goal by the LL not to provide a dryer in those circumstances.

axel rose

The op already stated that there is a large garden. Why is is assumed that the Op is incapable of using a clothes horse?

LFC Murphy

Thanks axel.

Look Im a landlord not a slumlord, Im stuck with a second property due to the boom that I cant sell to make ends meet I have to rent it (at a loss may I add). I also don't want money advice.

I have the house in excellent repair and was just asked by my tenants "we were wondering if you could get us a dryer".

As I aluded to, the property is a semi-d with a back garden.

And I'm just looking for thoughts from tenants & landlords about what is the minimum requirements for rented properties. I believe I have all areas covered.

And I'm not looking for rants about the state or behaviour of irish landlords in general.

Thanks

axel rose

No worries, TBh the best place to ask this question is on www.irishlandlord.com as A LOT of people who use this forum have some strange ideas. (generally if you own any property or plan to buy- then you are wrong ).

I actually assumed that you were a tenant. Your tenants are only in the place a month, they have proven nothing yet.

AARRRRGH

Cathooo wrote: »

Yes they do if there's no outside space for drying.

Taken from Citizen's Information
Link

From 1 February 2009, a landlord must:

Ensure that the house is in a proper state of structural repair. This means that it must be essentially sound with roof, floors, ceilings, walls and stairs in good repair and not subject to serious dampness or rotting. The new Regulations strengthen this requirement with effect from 1 December 2009 (see below)
Provide a sink with hot and cold water
Provide a separate ventilated room with a bath or shower and toilet
Provide heating appliances for every room lived in
Provide facilities for cooking and for the hygienic storage of food, for example, a 4 ring hob with oven and grill, fridge-freezer and microwave oven
Provide clothes washing facilities
Provide clothes drying facilities if there isn’t a garden or a yard
Ensure that electricity or gas supplies are in good repair and safe
Ensure that every room has adequate ventilation and both natural and artificial lighting
Provide a fire blanket and fire alarms
Provide access to vermin-proof and pest-proof refuse storage facilities.

Sure that could mean a clothes horse and not a dryer.
But in the interest of damp prevention a dryer would be good.

antoinolachtnai

Me, if I had the space to put the dryer in the house, I would buy the dryer. It will save on wear to the property from radiator drying. It will add value to the house when you go to rent it again.

If you have room for a dishwasher, i would put that in too! These things are very inexpensive ways of vastly improving the quality of the property for a renter. I know it is hard for you to find the cash, but i think it would actually be worth your while borrowing the money to get these things.

BostonB

IThings like dishwashers and dyers were unheard of 10~15yrs ago. People managed without them. Its interesting to hear people can't survive without them now, or that property will be destroyed with damp. What people used to do was open windows. Something they don't do these days which is main cause of damp. smaller properties may have the space to have them.

From a marketing point of view if all other other rental properties have them, then its going to harder to rent somewhere that doesn't.

Dryers are very heavy on electricity. So cost a lot to run.

SoupyNorman

I'm currently renting, bought my own dryer. My Apt has a washer/dryer combi but from experience I know the dryer's are always brutal...they never can get the towels fluffy enough.

As the LL, you're not obligated to provide a dryer provided it was not advertised with the property. In fact, I blame the tenants for not asking for a dryer before signing a lease. Blame aside I think it would be better to get a dryer, you can pick one up for under €200. It will keep your tenants happy and as mentioned become an extra selling feature when the property is back on the market.

Think about a dishwasher in the future too. Hell would freeze over before I'd rent a property without one. With the glut of rentals flooding the market you need to add as much value to your product as possible.

Thoie

LFC Murphy wrote: »

I have the house in excellent repair and was just asked by my tenants "we were wondering if you could get us a dryer".

Well, before you get to that, where will the dryer go, and where would it be vented?

You can buy condenser dryers that don't need a vent, but some of these need to drain, with with others the water is collected in a tray which needs to be emptied regularly. From my own experience some of the tray condenser dryers can lead to condensation within the room they're being used in if the room isn't well ventilated.

John Mason

Oink wrote: »

Honestly, in this day and age, who does not provide a freezer and a dryer?

Do you REALLY have the option to dry your clothes outside in this country??
What do you do if it rains a little everyday for 10 days?

wow, i must live in the last centuary then:o i dont have a drier and i wont have one my house - they cost a fortune.

today, i have washed and dried 4 loads of washing :cool: when the weather is really bad i use a clothes horse to dry them.

if the tenents have a garden, i dont see the need for them to have a drier - if they were living in an apartment, i could understand it

antoinolachtnai

Different strokes for different folks obviously. A kandlord's job is (generally speaking, unless you are specifically going for the low end or the high end) to appeal to as wide a market as possible. The market, rather than personal preference dictates the fitout. Just because there's a dryer doesn't mean it has to be used. Depending whether it is worth pying the extra for the energy costs is a decision for the tenant, I think.

Xiney

Personally I'd never rent a place without a tumble dryer - and I won't go for one of those combination things either, they are way worse on electricity usage and barely work at all.

Thing is though, I didn't grow up in Ireland and we always had a tumble dryer from before I was born. It's just an everyday necessity for me. I dry some things on the line when the weather is good, but in Ireland that rarely happens. And towels dried anywhere but a tumble dryer are rough and non-absorbent, as far as I'm concerned - and fabric softener makes them even less useful.

SoupyNorman

The Irish have a serious phobia when it comes to 'Dryers aten da electricity'. My dryer gets used almost every day, electricity bill came yesterday...€67 for 2 months in a large 2bed.

Viva le Dryer.

Diarmuid

SoupyNorman wrote: »

The Irish have a serious phobia when it comes to 'Dryers aten da electricity'. My dryer gets used almost every day, electricity bill came yesterday...€67 for 2 months in a large 2bed.

Viva le Dryer.

According to the ESB estimator if you have a condenser dryer and use it every day it will cost €39.04 every two months, the vented type €26.35. You must not use electricity to do much more than washing clothes.

I don't use one as I don't need one. Clothes horse and washing line covers all needs.

ricman

IF MOVING in to a flat its up to you to see what equipment is there ,a dryer does,nt cost the landlord much as he gets a tax credit for all items in the house eg tvs/ fridges,cookers etc IN the winter many people use clothes horses as the heat is on anyway .There should be a waher/dry at least in my opinion .
some people would not think of buying a dryer ,ie most kitchens had just a cooker,fridge washing machine.IF you ask he might buy one.
I Remember when nobody had dryers ,like hd tvs they came in with the celtic tiger.

I've never had a place with a dryer. I don't consider them a necessity at all. I've always used a clothes horse and never had a problem with mold. I don't see why you'd need a dryer at all, except to make your towels fluffier and nicer. They absolutely ruin your clothes. I had to use them in launderettes when I lived in places with neither a washer nor a dryer (common in New York) and my clothes always ended up too tight and faded. I wasn't being careless, but there's such a fine line between still damp and overdried. I don't know why anyone would want to use one when they didn't have to.

planetX

No dryer where I rent, so when the weather is bad (like always) I dry clothes on the radiators - and yes, it makes the house mouldy. It's in the landlords own interest to provide one. I wouldn't buy my own because I could be served notice tomorrow, and move somewhere that already had one.

ztoical

surprised at all the comments about Ireland being backwards...renting in the uk and don't have a dryer and none of the places we looked at had one. If you've ever rented in the US you'll find most apartments and alot of houses there don't have washing machines let alone dryers. Lived on a the 5th floor of a block in New York with no lift and had to drag washing done to the basement wash room which was always flooding and full of roaches and other people left in a state which was still a step up from the next place in Queens were I has to walk 8 blocks to get clothes washed.

BostonB

planetX wrote: »

...I dry clothes on the radiators - and yes, it makes the house mouldy.....

No it doesn't. Either theres a problem with a leak/damp or the house/room is not ventilated properly. Which is why mould may only occur with some tenants and not others.

Ever2010

SoupyNorman wrote: »

Think about a dishwasher in the future too. Hell would freeze over before I'd rent a property without one. With the glut of rentals flooding the market you need to add as much value to your product as possible.

I'm the exact opposite - have had dishwashers in the last three places I've lived and have NEVER used one of them, never will. I would much rather more cupboard space!

I wouldn'r mind a combi washer/dryer - just to get the sheets/towels started off drying in the Winter - but it's not essential at all. Clothes horses work just as well.

am i bovvered

I provide dryers, lawn mowers, good quality hoovers, sweeping brushes, mops etc it is my interest that the house is well maintained.

planetX

BostonB wrote: »

No it doesn't. Either theres a problem with a leak/damp or the house/room is not ventilated properly. Which is why mould may only occur with some tenants and not others.

Def no problem with ventilation in this house - don't even need the windows open for a lovely draughty breeze. Damp is inevitable in an old house and this climate. Drying clothes without a dryer is a terrible problem, especially if you have kids.

cruizer101

No real need for a dryer, in relation to the regulations even if no clothes line, a clothes horse inside provides drying facilities.
I do agree its a nice thing to have and would make property more rentable but if you can't afford it then don't worry about it.

One thing to consider too, not sure if you bills are included in rent or not, if not fair enough, if they are and you get a dryer you'd need to consider increasing rent to cover the extra electricity used.

LFC Murphy

Thanks folks for all the input.

I have decided that is a good idea in terms of dampness as well as tenant satisfaction to put one into the house. However I have told my tenants that it would be closer to winter/autumn before I would do it.

Thanks again

testicle

If the landlord does provide a dryer, does it have to be in working order?

shoegirl

Oink wrote: »

Honestly, in this day and age, who does not provide a freezer and a dryer?

Quite a few actually. Most places just have a washing line out the back.
A lot of places, especially in Dublin, still don't have a washing machine, or have a communal room with one banjaxed one in it.

They are fairly expensive to run and very inefficient anyway. A washer dryer is not uncommon but I've rarely found one that worked effectively.

As for freezers, they do usually have them but normally again they are very poor quality low end models and often far short of the capacity that the place is designed for.

Xiney

AARRRRGH wrote: »

Sure that could mean a clothes horse and not a dryer.
But in the interest of damp prevention a dryer would be good.

in the actual act (not the interpretation which is what was quoted above) it explicitly states that a dryer must be provided if the house doesn't have its own garden.

Where the house does not contain a garden or yard for the exclusive
use of that house, a dryer (vented or recirculation type).

http://www.environ.ie/en/Legislation/DevelopmentandHousing/Housing/FileDownLoad,19142,en.pdf

Blizzard

Have to agree with many here - if you just don't have the money and the property has a garden with a clothes line, then that should be sufficient. Does the property have a shed? If so, consider putting up a line or two in it so they can hang clothes in that if weather is bad - or they can put a clothes horse in there.

If you do have the money or come across a drier (even one second-hand), get it at some point. Tenants will probably end up drying clothes indoors or on rads which becomes a bigger issue in the end.

I do agree that if you have good tenants, then you want to keep em happy, but we all have to draw the line somewhere. Good luck.