A group of students moving out of their shared home were touched after their landlord revealed he was paying them back their deposit with a bonus for being ‘excellent tenants’.
Maisie Gardener, 22, from Manchester, shared the sweet text she received from John, of Falham Properties, on Twitter last week.
The exchange saw Maisie thank John for her time at the property and admit the group would miss their Burnley home.
The students had lived at the house for three years while completing their degrees at the University of Leeds.
A group of students moving out of their shared home were touched after their landlord revealed he was paying them back their deposit with a bonus for being ‘excellent tenants’. Pictured from left to right: Tenants Harry Stamper, Seyi Ayeni, Josh Crook, Nicole Atkins, Maisie Gardner, Jared Clemetson and Ben Thomson
In response, John said he was sorry to see them go and ‘as a thank you’ for being good tenants, he was adding £50 each to their £250 deposit refund.
He wrote: ‘Now that the shops are opening again I hope you’ll be able to buy yourselves something nice.’
Maisie, a psychology student, shared a screenshot of the text on Twitter, writing: ‘A nice student landlord!!! Love you John’ – and the tweet went viral, notching up more than 11,100 retweets and 265,300 likes.
She later added: ‘There’s seven of us altogether and he gave us all (not just those leaving in the message) £50! He spent £350 treating us for being good tenants. My heart.’
It sparked a flurry of comments, with many social media users admitting they wished their student landlord had been more like John.
Maisie, a psychology student, shared a screenshot of the text on Twitter, writing: ‘A nice student landlord !!! Love you John’ – and the tweet went viral, notching up more than 11,100 retweets and 265,300 likes
John, who did not wish to be named in full, told LeedsLive he is overwhelmed by the reaction to Maisie’s tweet – which even saw his website expand its bandwidth due to the number of people visiting it.
He said the seven tenants looked after his home for three years and never caused him any hassle.
‘I’m the sort of landlord that looks after his houses and I keep them very well maintained, they have respected that,’ he told the publication.
‘They deserve a little bit of a bonus. I can say thank you in a text or in an email but thought I should give them something now that the shops are opening again.
John, who did not wish to be named in full, told LeedsLive he is overwhelmed by the reaction to Maisie’s tweet – which even saw his website expand its bandwidth due to the number of people visiting it
‘I wish them well in the future. If they carry on how they did in my house they will be fine people.’
Maisie added that she too is ‘amazed’ by the number of likes her tweet received, and praised John for being ‘really nice’ and always quick to fix anything that went wrong.
She added: ‘Even though people are replying with negative comments about their experience with landlords, it’s important for people to be aware that there are good landlords too.’
In a follow-up tweet, she wrote: ‘Seeing some tweets about landlords and how they treat their tenants is a joke!
‘This is real, me and my housemates lived in his property in Leeds for three years and without any issues really so I feel lucky.’
Maisie added that she too is ‘amazed’ by the number of likes her tweet received, and praised John for being ‘really nice’ and always quick to fix anything that went wrong
Maisie said she is glad John got the recognition he deserves and his sons had been in touch with her to say thank you