Student accommodation gouging

Anima

https://twitter.com/betaburns/status/1166065984345710597

Saw this and thought it sounded pretty extreme. Is that relatively common? That's more in rent than most working professionals I know. I mean you can rent a 2 bedroom apartment in town for 1200-1400 so why not just pair with someone at that stage. Or even stay in a hostel.

Forking out 700e for only midweek and having to move stuff out at the weekend seems almost untrue.

I know of a house near the Crescent that has 13 occupants in the house and another 6 in a small chalet in the back garden.

Anima

Is the landlord not taking a massive risk doing that?

Anima

Anima wrote: »

Is the landlord not taking a massive risk doing that?

Many freshers won't know their full tenancy rights..

Mrs OBumble

No tenancy rights involved: it's a licensee situation.

Does it include meals, and laundry / bedding? That may change the value proposition quite a bit - how does it compare with other hostels, pricewise? Snoozles were advertising a 5-night student package for 80 per week, but that's in a shared dorm room, vastly different to having your own room.

It's expensive - but she's probably well aware of the likely drop-out rate, and the amount of **** that she'll have to put up with from the kids.

Many students go home every weekend anyway, so taking all their stuff isn't actually such a hardship. The flow back in to town on Sunday night and Monday morning is really quite incredible to watch.

Deaf student

Anima wrote: »

https://twitter.com/betaburns/status/1166065984345710597

Saw this and thought it sounded pretty extreme. Is that relatively common? That's more in rent than most working professionals I know. I mean you can rent a 2 bedroom apartment in town for 1200-1400 so why not just pair with someone at that stage. Or even stay in a hostel.



Forking out 700e for only midweek and having to move stuff out at the weekend seems almost untrue.

It gone too far re landlord greed. It works out €175 for every 5 days (not including Sat and Sun). All cash which aims to avoid tax which can't be traced back. Monthly income derived from rent is €9,100 per month plus Airbnb income at e weekend. Whole year income for the landlord is well over €119K+.
It would create stress by moving the stuff in and out every weekend- Not worth it in my view.

Alternatives : if no other accommodation available then pay cash and report that landlord to revenue commissioners for income or more precisely hidden income not declared cos all cash.

If there are other accommodation available, leave that place ASAP and opt for a cheaper option.

beardybrewer

We stayed in a rental when we first moved to Galway advertised as "professionals only". Previously the landlord had a big group of kids who destroyed the place, kicked in every door, smashed every window. He was a builder and got the place fixed up and put up with our near monthly odd-jobs to meet probably much higher standards than students and parted on good terms after 6 months. What I found interesting was he was going back to a pack of kids. Probably more maintenance but easier and lots more cash.

The original twitter poster has stated the price is for digs, so that's room, breakfast and evening meal, heating, electricity, wifi, fresh linen etc all included

700pm is about right for that

The "clear the room on Fri" is also not unusual. Many b&b's do digs over the winter and sell the rooms on the weekends

Del2005

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

No tenancy rights involved: it's a licensee situation.

Does it include meals, and laundry / bedding? That may change the value proposition quite a bit - how does it compare with other hostels, pricewise? Snoozles were advertising a 5-night student package for 80 per week, but that's in a shared dorm room, vastly different to having your own room.

It's expensive - but she's probably well aware of the likely drop-out rate, and the amount of **** that she'll have to put up with from the kids.

Many students go home every weekend anyway, so taking all their stuff isn't actually such a hardship. The flow back in to town on Sunday night and Monday morning is really quite incredible to watch.

13 students in a house I doubt they are in their own rooms.

Deaf student wrote: »

It gone too far re landlord greed. It works out €175 for every 5 days (not including Sat and Sun). All cash which aims to avoid tax which can't be traced back. Monthly income derived from rent is €9,100 per month plus Airbnb income at e weekend. Whole year income for the landlord is well over €119K+.
It would create stress by moving the stuff in and out every weekend- Not worth it in my view.

Alternatives : if no other accommodation available then pay cash and report that landlord to revenue commissioners for income or more precisely hidden income not declared cos all cash.

If there are other accommodation available, leave that place ASAP and opt for a cheaper option.

AirBnB inform revenue of everyone renting on their platform. Just because someone only wants cash doesn't mean they are avoiding tax, they could be avoiding other people though. Must find out where this place is as it's a handy €9k for anyone who isn't honest on a Friday.

afkasurfjunkie

9k a month plus air bnb cash too. But you have to share your house with 12 19 year olds. Ugh. The ‘stingiest thing you’ve seen stingy people do’ thread must be heaving at this time of year. Do students bring their sheets away with them on a Friday too? The beds must be mank.

Cash only. Hmmm

Homelander

That sounds a bit extreme. It would literally be cheaper to live in a hostel (which specifically advertise student deals), and if you're sharing a house with 12 other students you'll be living in a hostel style setup anyway, so why bother. 700 for Mon-Fri in a bunk bed is utter madness.

grbear

6 wrote: »

Cash only. Hmmm

Yeah. Everything else sounds a bit extreme but at least seems above board. Cash only stinks to high heaven though.

antix80

Sounds like a very hard working landlord!
The place is being run as a B&B/hostel from the sounds of it.
Based on 21 "working" days a month, that's €33 a night. Does rent have to be paid during holidays like summer and Christmas? If not, it sounds like a good arrangement & no doubt one that students take into account then choosing that place, instead of a cheaper house-share that might involve a short commute.
The idiotic twitter user says "Nationalise & redistribute all property"- not sure who that would help.. the place would turn into a hovel within days.

xckjoo

This kinda thing has being going on for a few years now. I'm pretty sure the landlords see the "earn tax free up to €14k" (I think it's 14k) and just work backwards to determine the price-per-week. It's extreme gouging. No two ways about it. I'm just curious as to where the accommodation in the OP is. I've seen similar ads for places located in the arse end of nowhere, so they're still going to have to drive to college everyday and spend a fortune on taxis if they want to go out and socialise.

Always Tired

can't believe people are justifying this and saying the landlord is 'working hard'!

700 per month. 12 housemates. and feck off on Friday.

the clear the room on Friday part should be illegal. if you pay monthly rent you should have the room for the entire month. when i was in college I was paying half that and I had to stay down at the weekend to work at a part time job to pay for the room.

landlord is absolutely creaming it.

The story sounds like its 2nd hand information from twitter "activist". I certainly wouldnt be fully relying on it for accuracy.

If it is digs it as mentioned above it might not be so bad. I lived in digs in first year about 20 years ago. There were seven of us in the house, 3 double rooms and a single. Breakfast and dinner on the table every day.

I had mighty craic as a first year in them, the owners had been keeping students for years and nothing bothered them.


Mrs O Bumble has it correct above. I see a wave of buses arrive in Maynooth every Sunday and return Friday morning/afternoon so there is a big market for Mon-Fri accomodation.

Last few outraged posters all missed that the price is for digs?

xckjoo

Deleted User wrote: »

Last few outraged posters all missed that the price is for digs?

Where do you see that it's for digs?

Anima

antix80 wrote: »

The idiotic twitter user says "Nationalise & redistribute all property"- not sure who that would help.. the place would turn into a hovel within days.

Yeah ignore that part, obviously she's a complete moron but that's why I was asking was the story possibly true.

xckjoo wrote:

I'm just curious as to where the accommodation in the OP is.

She said in another comment it was near NUIG/dangan I think.

Gladcon

Du

xckjoo

xckjoo wrote: »

Where do you see that it's for digs?

The original twitter poster stated it in a later tweet

flazio

There's information missing here that would greatly assist me in forming an opinion on the landlord. Information I have no right to. Namely what other income they have, how much their property is worth and are they currently paying finance on it.

xckjoo

Deleted User wrote: »

The original twitter poster stated it in a later tweet

I couldn't see it anywhere in the original twitter thread. Think it's been deleted now too. I only ask because I've seen a number of ads for similar set ups that didn't include meals or access to a kitchen.

Wompa1

If it's not full time and is only Monday-Friday does that even count as a long term tenancy or is it short term?

Can they stay there on Bank Holiday Mondays, I wonder.

Either way, it's unbelievable greed. Hopefully Karma catches up with these people.

antix80

Wompa1 wrote: »

Either way, it's unbelievable greed. Hopefully Karma catches up with these people.

You don't know the landlord's circumstances. You're going by 2nd hand info from twitter.
I don't think it's a simply case of saying "12 people x 12 months x €700 = €100k Tax free"

Maybe it's 10 people, and maybe it's for 10 months excl summers, and maybe the rent is €600 on average.. take out electricity, broadband, repairs and maintenance, cleaning, etc, and income tax... the landlord is probably left with about €30-40k for what's essentially a full-time job. Hardly luxury, considering they're left sharing a house with 10 others.

Mrs OBumble

antix80 wrote: »

Maybe it's 10 people, and maybe it's for 10 months excl summers, and maybe the rent is €600 on average.. take out electricity, broadband, repairs and maintenance, cleaning, etc, and income tax... the landlord is probably left with about €30-40k for what's essentially a full-time job. Hardly luxury, considering they're left sharing a house with 10 others.

Indeed.

And the college year is only nine months long. And there are likely to be some dropouts.

xckjoo

antix80 wrote: »

You don't know the landlord's circumstances. You're going by 2nd hand info from twitter.
I don't think it's a simply case of saying "12 people x 12 months x €700 = €100k Tax free"

Maybe it's 10 people, and maybe it's for 10 months excl summers, and maybe the rent is €600 on average.. take out electricity, broadband, repairs and maintenance, cleaning, etc, and income tax... the landlord is probably left with about €30-40k for what's essentially a full-time job. Hardly luxury, considering they're left sharing a house with 10 others.

€30-40k extra income.... and they won't charge different amounts unless there's a big reason like some people are sharing rooms. It's hardly "essentially a full-time job" either. They aren't going to be walking them to college and holding their hands. Doubt they'll do the laundry, unless maybe the sheets at weekends, and there's no evidence to suggest all meals are included. Do you think they'll be getting a fry in the morning, packed lunch for college and a slap up dinner? You don't use that much electricity occupying one room in a house for 5 days, particularly if you're spending most of your day out of the house. Broadband is a fixed cost, not based on number of users. They're already paying that. You can be sure the student will be out on their ear too if they cause any damage. If luxury was the issue to the owner, they could let out less rooms. They've obviously decided that they'd rather rent out the room than have the space. The "luxury" is in having the option to rent out a room for 5 days a week for €700 a month.

It almost certainly won't include summer either but not sure how that makes it better. If the student gets a part-time job to offset the cost (which many need to do) they might need to stay around for the summer so now they have to find somewhere else to live.

One of the worst things to me is the requirement to be completely moved out of your room every Friday morning. It means you're restricted to essentially living out of 1 suitcase at all times and you then have to lug that around with you all day Friday.

Red_Wake

xckjoo wrote: »

€30-40k extra income.... and they won't charge different amounts unless there's a big reason like some people are sharing rooms. It's hardly "essentially a full-time job" either. They aren't going to be walking them to college and holding their hands. Doubt they'll do the laundry, unless maybe the sheets at weekends, and there's no evidence to suggest all meals are included. Do you think they'll be getting a fry in the morning, packed lunch for college and a slap up dinner? You don't use that much electricity occupying one room in a house for 5 days, particularly if you're spending most of your day out of the house. Broadband is a fixed cost, not based on number of users. They're already paying that. You can be sure the student will be out on their ear too if they cause any damage. If luxury was the issue to the owner, they could let out less rooms. They've obviously decided that they'd rather rent out the room than have the space. The "luxury" is in having the option to rent out a room for 5 days a week for €700 a month.

It almost certainly won't include summer either but not sure how that makes it better. If the student gets a part-time job to offset the cost (which many need to do) they might need to stay around for the summer so now they have to find somewhere else to live.

One of the worst things to me is the requirement to be completely moved out of your room every Friday morning. It means you're restricted to essentially living out of 1 suitcase at all times and you then have to lug that around with you all day Friday.

There's not much detail at all. The tweet only contains only the incendiary details required to rouse the rabble.

Absolute storm in a teacup, unsubstantiated chinese whispers from some twitter nob.

xckjoo

Red_Wake wrote: »

There's not much detail at all. The tweet only contains only the incendiary details required to rouse the rabble.

Absolute storm in a teacup, unsubstantiated chinese whispers from some twitter nob.

While I agree with you on the issue with twitter mobs, it's very much an ongoing issue that's only getting worse. This one just happened to catch the publics attention for whatever reason.

Deaf student

If people want to pay it then options like this will be available, the house owner (not a LL) is simply maximizing their profit like any business should. If you don’t want to stay there then don’t, it’s a bed that wouldn’t be there otherwise so it will suit some people and is a lot better than many alternatives.

This needs to be repeated again obviously, the person is NOT A LANDLORD, they are inviting guests into their home and can run the house anyway they want.

Deaf student wrote: »

Alternatives : if no other accommodation available then pay cash and report that landlord to revenue commissioners for income or more precisely hidden income not declared cos all cash.

.

Only a right bad b*stard would act like that, I’d wish the worst luck on a person even suggesting it. The LL tax affairs are none of your concern.

Deleted User wrote: »

The original twitter poster has stated the price is for digs, so that's room, breakfast and evening meal, heating, electricity, wifi, fresh linen etc all included

700pm is about right for that

The "clear the room on Fri" is also not unusual. Many b&b's do digs over the winter and the rooms on the weekends

Very common around college road with children in Yates, they have to fully clear out every Friday as the b&bs all take bookings over the weekend. Perfectly acceptable way to operate.

zell12

Dawson High Boy wrote: »

..Only a right bad b*stard would act like that, I’d wish the worst luck on a person even suggesting it. The LL tax affairs are none of your concern.

Surely when conducting a business transaction, you want to see a valid tax clearance certificate. Landlords want all sorts of documentation from tenants. The landlord's tax status can be a tenant's concern ie. a landlord living abroad

antix80

zell12 wrote: »

Surely when conducting a business transaction, you want to see a valid tax clearance certificate.

Of course. Excellent point. I wanted a breakfast roll in centra earlier and they wouldn't sell it without seeing my valid tax clearance certificate. When they finally produced it I decided not to go ahead with the transaction as they refused to show me their valid tax clearance certificate.

zell12 wrote: »

The landlord's tax status can be a tenant's concern ie. a landlord living abroad

Yea, and the landlord in this case is living in the attic.

zell12

zell12 wrote: »

Surely when conducting a business transaction, you want to see a valid tax clearance certificate. Landlords want all sorts of documentation from tenants. The landlord's tax status can be a tenant's concern ie. a landlord living abroad

I have always paid cash to LLs bar one and have been very happy to do so if they are keeping a bit extra for themselves out of sight of revenue then fair play to them but it’s none of my business.

xckjoo

antix80 wrote: »

Of course. Excellent point. I wanted a breakfast roll in centra earlier and they wouldn't sell it without seeing my valid tax clearance certificate. When they finally produced it I decided not to go ahead with the transaction as they refused to show me their valid tax clearance certificate.


Yea, and the landlord in this case is living in the attic.

Bet every cent of VAT owed on that purchase was paid though

JohnCleary

Deaf student wrote: »

Alternatives : if no other accommodation available then pay cash and report that landlord to revenue commissioners for income or more precisely hidden income not declared cos all cash.

Comments like this make the poster sound like a totally un-educated numpty with regards to taxation law.

Just because a person receives cash, doesn't mean it's not declared. (although i'm sure some of it goes missing)

Also, tax on rental income is paid in arrears. So, you pay cash for say, a month. You then report this person to the Revenue. They'll probably laugh down the phone at you (OK, they won't) as their tax liability is not due until next year. Incase you can't comprehend this, let me give you an example: You pay me rent in 2019, I don't declare it [up to] November 2020.

Landlord's are quite high on the Revenue Radar and tbh, i'd be surprised if a landlord (whether it be cash or not) declares [most] of their income.

Boards.ie amazes me at times :pac:

ChewyLouie

Dawson High Boy wrote: »

The LL tax affairs are none of your concern.

Sure they are, any fellow citizens that are dodging taxes results in a heavier burden of taxes for others.

xckjoo

JohnCleary wrote: »

Comments like this make the poster sound like a totally un-educated numpty with regards to taxation law.

Just because a person receives cash, doesn't mean it's not declared. (although i'm sure some of it goes missing)

Also, tax on rental income is paid in arrears. So, you pay cash for say, a month. You then report this person to the Revenue. They'll probably laugh down the phone at you (OK, they won't) as their tax liability is not due until next year. Incase you can't comprehend this, let me give you an example: You pay me rent in 2019, I don't declare it [up to] November 2020.

Landlord's are quite high on the Revenue Radar and tbh, i'd be surprised if a landlord (whether it be cash or not) declares [most] of their income.

Boards.ie amazes me at times :pac:

Not sure what your point is here beyond landlords have 11 months to declare income. You even agree with the poster your calling an "uneducated numpty" that the landlord is probably not declaring everything. And why you'd expect someone that isn't a landlord to know the find details of tax law related to being a landlord is beyond me.

Wompa1

Only 8 landlords in Galway City have applied for the permit to rent short term for 90+ days. Unfortunately, the Galway City council have said they don't have the resources to enforce the laws. There's a massive business opportunity there for someone to go in and help with enforcement. Take 90% of the fine and give the other 10% to the Council.

If anyone is concerned about practices of landlords and are a student speak to the Student's Union and RTB. The RTB can also launch pro-active investigations based on tenant reports.

Dodging paying tax on the car, taking cash and only accounting for a portion of it or working nixers for cash and not declaring is tax evasion. It puts more burden on others. Funny enough, a lot of the people who say it's not a problem for a landlord will spew venom if they suspect a foreigner isn't paying in. Hopefully the auld nod and a wink to crime dies off with the Boomers.

Wompa1

JohnCleary wrote: »

Just because a person receives cash, doesn't mean it's not declared. (although i'm sure some of it goes missing)

...... that pretty much nullifies everything else you said. Everyone knows why a landlord wants cash in hand. My current landlord offered money off the rent for cash. I was renting an office in the city, the owner offered a discount if paying cash. It's not because it's convenient, it's because they will make more over the year from under declaring. It's tax evasion. There are other avenues to explore legally that don't involve the revenue directly. Though, if you document the payments yourself, track it and give it to them and do half the work for them. I'd bet they'd show some interest.

what_traffic

Wompa1 wrote: »

Only 8 landlords in Galway City have applied for the permit to rent short term for 90+ days. Unfortunately, the Galway City council have said they don't have the resources to enforce the laws. There's a massive business opportunity there for someone to go in and help with enforcement. Take 90% of the fine and give the other 10% to the Council.

Would Galway City Council agree to this?

Wompa1

Wompa1 wrote: »

...... that pretty much nullifies everything else you said. Everyone knows why a landlord wants cash in hand. My current landlord offered money off the rent for cash. I was renting an office in the city, the owner offered a discount if paying cash. It's not because it's convenient, it's because they will make more over the year from under declaring. It's tax evasion. There are other avenues to explore legally that don't involve the revenue directly. Though, if you document the payments yourself, track it and give it to them and do half the work for them. I'd bet they'd show some interest.

Only a fool wouldn't keep a bit for themselves if they can.

I have mostly paid my rent in cash, I always ask for cash prices from builders, tradesmen etc. I am very happy to do things this way and you will find the vast majority will agree with me. We are robbed with tax in this country so people will of course keep what they reasonably can out of the tax net.

ChewyLouie wrote: »

Sure they are, any fellow citizens that are dodging taxes results in a heavier burden of taxes for others.

No it doesn't. I read this statement on here every now and then on boards and its nonsense. I spent years doing 3 months on 3 months off with road tax when you could declare the car off the road after the fact. The cost of road tax is the same on the size engine now as it was 15 years ago. Me paying it or not paying makes no differnece to the rate, same for all taxes, people paying or not has zero impact on rates.

Anima

Anima wrote: »

https://twitter.com/betaburns/status/1166065984345710597

Saw this and thought it sounded pretty extreme. Is that relatively common? That's more in rent than most working professionals I know. I mean you can rent a 2 bedroom apartment in town for 1200-1400 so why not just pair with someone at that stage. Or even stay in a hostel.

Forking out 700e for only midweek and having to move stuff out at the weekend seems almost untrue.

A hotel is only 300.00 for five nights, why not go to Ardilaun?

JCX BXC

Saying €700 a month for digs is acceptable is hilarious, that's not correct at all. Id recommend actually look at what's available, as digs are often cheaper than self catering.

Anyone who'd even consider paying €700 for that really needs to have a harder look. There's more available for cheaper, and digs are the accomodation type that has the most availabilty for students.

xckjoo

Dawson High Boy wrote: »

Only a fool wouldn't keep a bit for themselves if they can.

I have mostly paid my rent in cash, I always ask for cash prices from builders, tradesmen etc. I am very happy to do things this way and you will find the vast majority will agree with me. We are robbed with tax in this country so people will of course keep what they reasonably can out of the tax net.



No it doesn't. I read this statement on here every now and then on boards and its nonsense. I spent years doing 3 months on 3 months off with road tax when you could declare the car off the road after the fact. The cost of road tax is the same on the size engine now as it was 15 years ago. Me paying it or not paying makes no differnece to the rate, same for all taxes, people paying or not has zero impact on rates.

Doesn't that make you a criminal? Just one that hasn't been caught.

xckjoo

xckjoo wrote: »

Doesn't that make you a criminal? Just one that hasn't been caught.

Many would say those setting our tax levels are the criminals!

Anyway the days of 3 months on/off are gone unfortunately due to the new way of declaring the car off the road in advance so for a paye worker like myself that’s about the only way for saving a bit of tax gone (aside from paying people in cash and that ain’t a crime, it’s up to them to declare it).

xckjoo

Dawson High Boy wrote: »

Many would say those setting our tax levels are the criminals!

Anyway the days of 3 months on/off are gone unfortunately due to the new way of declaring the car off the road in advance so for a paye worker like myself that’s about the only bit of a way for saving a bit of tax gone (aside from paying people in cash and that ain’t a crime, it’s up to them to declare it).

Don't think we get to personally decide what does and does not constitute a crime.

Wompa1

Dawson High Boy wrote: »

Only a fool wouldn't keep a bit for themselves if they can.

I have mostly paid my rent in cash, I always ask for cash prices from builders, tradesmen etc. I am very happy to do things this way and you will find the vast majority will agree with me. We are robbed with tax in this country so people will of course keep what they reasonably can out of the tax net.

We live in a Welfare state. If you went to college (particularly before the bust or just after it you benefit from those taxes through heavily subsidized tuition prices.) If you have kids or will have kids in future, the free GP visits are paid for through taxes. Your kids will also get 2 years of free pre-school and now free dental in their teens. Our water is still being paid for through general taxation. We live in a city in which the largest employer is the state. If you have family who work for the council, the Gardai, as a lecturer, a teacher or a general civil servant job etc. You benefited from those taxes.

That's just listing some that would clearly benefit you and the majority of people in Ireland.

Maybe you think taxes should be lowered now, after you have lived a life benefiting from them. That's your prerogative but if you or anyone else takes cash for payment and don't declare it, you are a criminal. No better than a welfare cheat. No better than a wealthy person who illegally avoids taxes. No better than a pick pocket.
.

JCX BXC

JCX BXC wrote: »

Saying €700 a month for digs is acceptable is hilarious, that's not correct at all. Id recommend actually look at what's available, as digs are often cheaper than self catering.

Anyone who'd even consider paying €700 for that really needs to have a harder look. There's more available for cheaper, and digs are the accomodation type that has the most availabilty for students.

700 a month is the normal price for digs

For that you get

Breakfast and dinner
No bills, free wifi/electricity etc
Fresh laundry weekly
Only pay for the time you stay (don't pay during holidays / weekends)

Digs have ALWAYS cost more than self-catering for those reasons

ChewyLouie

Dawson High Boy wrote: »

No it doesn't. I read this statement on here every now and then on boards and its nonsense. I spent years doing 3 months on 3 months off with road tax when you could declare the car off the road after the fact. The cost of road tax is the same on the size engine now as it was 15 years ago. Me paying it or not paying makes no differnece to the rate, same for all taxes, people paying or not has zero impact on rates.

Wow. Surely you can't be that dim, hopefully you're just trolling.

It costs a certain amount to run the country and we take in so much in taxes to pay for that. When it comes around to working out the budget, if the taxes don't cover the costs we need to increase the taxes to cover the costs (and/or reduce costs and limit spending).

Just because motor tax (road tax doesn't exist here, stop paying it) hasn't increased when you skipped your payments doesn't mean that other taxes haven't increased. The rest of us have had to pay more to pick up the slack due to your me-fein attitude.

Wompa1

Deleted User wrote: »

700 a month is the normal price for digs

For that you get

Breakfast and dinner
No bills, free wifi/electricity etc
Fresh laundry weekly
Only pay for the time you stay (don't pay during holidays / weekends)

Digs have ALWAYS cost more than self-catering for those reasons

I only had one friend in digs during college. The landlord/owner occupied decided after the first week she couldn't be arsed making breakfast anymore. She also didn't provide WiFi as it wasn't a requirement and had her home heating oil and electricity subsidized. Worst of all she had a small little Yorkshire Terrier that hadn't been groomed in years. F*ckin' thing stank.

At least she wasn't renting the room out over the weekend though. As bad as it was for the poor lad staying there at least he didn't have to bring all his college equipment back up to Achill every weekend :pac: