A prospective tenant looking at a house had no idea what her landlord would be like.

What she didn’t expect was to be handed a list of increasingly bizarre house rules, before even signing a contract.

The 31 instructions posted online by Laura Evelyn include limiting showering to 15 minutes, having visitors approved two weeks in advance and never using somebody else’s shampoo.

Any personal belongings left in communal areas of the flat in Wood Green, north London, would be ‘thrown out as junk’, the list says, and no food is to be eaten in bedrooms.

Enlarge Fancy moving in? The bizarre list handed to the prospective tenant includes an order that only two visitors per month are allowed and cooking must be limited to 30 minutes

Warning sign: The list continues with instructions not to ‘abuse’ electricity and gas supplies and to empty the washing machine and dryer when they are not in use

Heating and electricity are not to be ‘abused’ – or extra charges will be incurred. Unsurprisingly, Laura – an actor and proofreader – adds that the rent was ‘reasonable’

She told Mail Online of the landlord: ‘He seemed intelligent and friendly. He only gave me the list as I was leaving.

‘It made for amusing Tube reading.’

Several points on the list warn against theft and another rule states that tenants will be fined £15 if they leave dishes in the sink.

No pets are allowed, no pork is permitted and cooking must be limited to 30 minutes.

Another line reads: ‘Noisy people and rude people will get one chance to calm down’.

Laura posted a photo online yesterday  of the typed list she says was given to her during a viewing.

It quickly went viral, with more than 1,000 retweeting it and almost 4,000 commenting on it on Reddit.

She uploaded the image with the words: ‘Need a room to rent? I was given this upon a recent viewing. This is not a joke! #heseemedsonormal’.

Enlarge And it doesn’t end there… The increasingly irate landlord begins to repeat himself on subjects including stealing and electricity, adding that personal belongings will be thrown out if left in communal areas

 

Enlarge Not very encouraging: The author’s unconvincing advice to ‘ENJOY YOUR STAY’ is hardly likely to make even the most desperate house-hunter keen to sign a contract

Needless to say, she has not moved in, adding: ‘The pork sanction was the deal-breaker. I could’ve handled the shower/sleep/cooking/existing allowances.’

The list seems to have struck a chord with anyone who has lived in a shared house, with many recounting their own experiences with difficult flatmates and landlords.

One Reddit user wrote: ‘I once had a roommate who had all these rules and more (ie: no dirty dishes in the dishwasher; that appliance is only to be used as a built-in drying rack for hand-washed dishes), but she failed to communicate them to me in advance. Rather, she left a trail of post-it notes around the house… oh, “no garbage in the garbage bins” was also another great rule.’

Another added: ‘One of my exes had a landlord tell her at the end of the walkthrough he’d knock $100 off if she wore either low cut tops or sports bras.’