Dear landlord

We have not owned our own home for five years or so and would be unable to re-enter the housing market now even if we wanted to. We have rented from a large land owning estate (no, not a council estate) without a problem. They tend to leave us alone, content to put the rent up by 10% every two years.

They do however inspect the property every two years to look for structural problems, items for repair and, I suppose, infringements of the tenancy agreement. Today was their inspection and we had a visit from Tory Boy and the Honey Monster (you didn't see them) who promptly tripped over the dog (tenancy infringement, the dog not the tripping). It was not onerous or anything like it but it emphasised to us that this house is not our own. I know that when we own the boat, and are living on it, that a BSS geezer, or geezeress (or should that be geezess), will want to root around the boat every four years but at least they are there taking an objective view of the boat and looking at it as our property and not looking around our home as rented and at us as a tenants. It is an important aspect of our social world, to feel secure in your own chosen home and not to feel as if you are doing wrong or infringing on others or their property.

The agency that runs the estate forgot to put in the tenancy agreement what the notice period was but I think that we'd best give them the normal 28 days for fear of losing our deposit on spurious grounds. We haven't told them that we are leaving yet and there is, so far, little sign around the place that we are doing so in the very near future. There will be much frantic activity taking place here at some indeterminate time a few weeks from now. We are putting off the inevitable until then (but we do have the odd box gathered together and some of them are very odd indeed).