My landlord has agreed to drop my rent but there’s a huge price to pay
DEAR DEIDRE: I’M having weekly sex with my landlord in return for a rent reduction.
To begin with, I managed by shutting my eyes and thinking about my boyfriend. But this guy has started calling around more regularly demanding sex and I’m starting to feel cheap and used.
I work as a nurse and live in a flat near the hospital.
For a while I was in nurses’ accommodation but then I had to find my own place and this dingy flat was all I could afford.
I’m 24 and my landlord is 41. He owns three flats in my block.
He put his rent up by £25 a week in April and it sent me into a tail-spin.
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The place isn’t the best anyway and the boiler keeps breaking.
When he told me about the increase, he suggested that if I “did some favours”, he’d keep the rent lower for me.
I was stunned but within moments he’d put his hand around the back of my head, pulled me to him and kissed me.
He’s married with kids and makes my skin crawl.
At first he would visit once a month on rent day.
That I could handle but it’s once a week now.
If I tell him it’s not a convenient time, he threatens to charge me the full amount.
I dare not tell my boyfriend, because he would get so angry — and I’d be afraid he’d do something to the landlord that he and I would regret.
My parents can’t help me as they have their own financial problems.
As it gets towards the end of the week, I start to feel dread.
MORE FROM DEAR DEIDRE
DEIDRE SAYS: This is very worrying. Make no mistake, this man is abusing and blackmailing you.
He is breaking the law and has a lot more to hide than you.
Once you get support you will be able to get out of this awful predicament.
Find some help via Rape Crisis (rapecrisis.org.uk, 0808 500 2222), who can advise you of the next steps.
You need to urgently find accommodation elsewhere.
Get support through the Royal College of Nursing, which can help you if you meet the criteria for financial hardship.
You can talk to someone through the counselling service (rcn.org.uk, 0345 772 6100).
If you are not eligible for accommodation at the hospital, find a house share or lodgings so that it is cheaper and you are not alone.
