“This is horrendous,” said shocked landlord Steve, who visits the property on last night’s episode of the show.
“I'm speechless - it's just utter carnage,” he added.
The landlords, who collectively own 30 buy-to-let properties, had to fight to reclaim their one-bedroom flat in Cardiff from the unscrupulous tenant for almost year.
Not only had the tenant failed to pay her rent for 10 months, but she had also been reported for antisocial behaviour that keeps neighbours awake at night and concerned for their safety.
Steve added: “Four months into the tenancy the payments just suddenly stopped.
“We couldn't get hold of her and that is where the warning signals began. She's a real problem tenant.
“The only way she will get out of that property is when people turn up to evict her.”
The latest episode of Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords left many viewers stunned after the show exposed extensive damage to a property in Cardiff caused by just one person.
Last night’s episode, aired on Channel 5, saw a nightmare tenant smash up a flat with a hammer before setting her possessions on fire and dousing the walls in graffiti, causing £20,000 worth of damage to the rented property.
The landlords, Stuart Haines and his best friend Steve, also found old food and used tissues rotting on the carpet, while the bath was blocked with hair and makeup.
“This is horrendous,” said shocked landlord Steve, who visits the property on last night’s episode of the show.
“I'm speechless - it's just utter carnage,” he added.
The landlords, who collectively own 30 buy-to-let properties, had to fight to reclaim their one-bedroom flat in Cardiff from the unscrupulous tenant for almost year.
Not only had the tenant failed to pay her rent for 10 months, but she had also been reported for antisocial behaviour that keeps neighbours awake at night and concerned for their safety.
Steve added: “Four months into the tenancy the payments just suddenly stopped.
“We couldn't get hold of her and that is where the warning signals began. She's a real problem tenant.
“The only way she will get out of that property is when people turn up to evict her.”
After a confrontation with the woman, the landlords had no alternative but to call on Landlord Action, which provides an eviction service for landlords and agents, to help.
Paul Shamplina, the founder of Landlord Action, commented: “Getting possession of the property seemed easy in comparison to what we were faced with when we entered the property.
“There wasn’t a single room in the property that hadn’t been vandalised. Not only were there belongings everywhere, anything and everything that once made up this property had been damaged, including a shattered sink, broken tiles, hammer holes in the walls, doors hanging off, cigarette burns all over the floor and graffiti writing throughout the property.
“There were also pigeon feathers everywhere in the property. The pictures speak for themselves and viewers will see the full extent on tonight’s show – watch my face!
“The costs faced by Stuart and Steve totalled more than £25,000, made up of £5,000 rent arrears, £2,000 in court fees and £20,000 to repair and refurbish the property.
“Although the pair are in a more fortunate position than most since they have the skills to put the property back together, they feel let down by the system which allowed a vulnerable tenant with mental health issues to reside in their property.”
Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords, airs on Monday at 9pm, Channel 5.
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Was the smashing-up of the premises done for the TV cameras? Everyone wants their minute of fame?
David you simply would not believe how some people live, and it's not just the low life, I've seen how some doctors and teachers live in filth, and yes the smashing up does happen in real life.
The Government needs to assure Landlords that the improved Sec.8 arrangements will make it easier and less costly to evicted such rogue Tenants not harder when they abolish Sec.21 Notices.
but our administration--its not a govt--will not make s8 to our benefit
I watched this programme and as an agent was horrified but what I do not understand is why agents and landlords allow the arrears to build up? As far as I'm concerned if a rent is unpaid, tenant is in arrears and I am putting landlords on notice that they need to get all the paperwork ready either via us themselves or via a lawyer to be ready to submit to court on the day after the next rent is due and doesn't come in. This is a business for landlords and it doesn't matter how nice the tenants seem and how appealing their excuses are, get a possession order and stick to deadlines.
The other thing that I couldn't understand was the owners of the flat engaging in arguments with their tenant - just walk away and let the process happen!
There is of course rent & legal insurance which could save everyone a lot of hassle and heartache!
Trouble is very few tenants are capable of qualifying for RGI which remains about the best defence there is to rent defaulting tenants.
In the past 11 years I have only been able to obtain RGI on one tenant....................which I had to claim on!!!
The RGI underwriters have too stringent requirements.
Basically if you aren't earning £30000 per year forget it!
However if £20000 was the minimum a lot more tenants would qualify for RGI very few of whom would ever need to be claimed against.
So come on RGI underwriters reduce the RGI income requirements and have lots more lovely premiums flooding in few of which will ever need to be claimed on.
So you'll make a ton of money!!
Hi David this kind of thing does happen, it has happened to me. However, most Tenants are wonderful & easy to get on with, notwithstanding the fact that Gov’ has done all in its power to drive a wedge between us. It was wrong to take all control of the property from the Landlord & then exclude him as well, while at same time making him responsible for everything outside his control, not possible to square that one. Now getting rid of Assured Short-hold Tenancies / taking your property from you. LL’s should have the same rights asLenders they don’t need s21& if you don’t pay your Mortgage you are out, or does it not matter when it’s our money.
Govt only cares if the banks lose money.
They care nothing for LL monies.
It is your business risk old chum.
If you don't like it stop being a LL.
For the banks the Govt will always be there to bail them out as they are simply too big to be allowed to fail.
LL pah!!! who cares if their businesses fail!?
I would love to get out but they have put obstacles there as well to stop us getting out, so they continue to build loads of Flats clearly not required. I just don’t know how Sadiq Khan is going to put Rent Controls on vacant property ?, So Sorry for ever being. Landlord, what for Slave Labour, to be abused, penalised, sanctioned, criminalised & robbed. Cash Cow to feed the milkers and if I had chosen a different path I could have been retired years ago instead of finding myself been held to ransom.
Yep I think I have realised; a lot based on what you have stated is that choosing a business that trades in residential property for letting purposes is to inadvertently make yourself a pariah of society.
I always considered that I was provisioning a vitally needed service and would be appreciated and welcomed for doing so.
Now perhaps that was a little bit naive of me!!!!!!
This as it appears I am resented for providing this rental accommodation.
It seems therefore that if I wish to strive to remain in the PRS that I won't receive any assistance to prevent myself from being robbed blind by tenants and Govt.
I don't believe that I am made of sufficiently strong stuff to battle these issues.
Being a LL in the AST market is not for the faint-hearted.
So I am giving up with a view to becoming a lodger LL.
This will still achieve the same income but without S24 etc issues.
There is more than sufficient lodger demand out there.
I will hopefully play a small part in satisfying that lodger demand.
The AST game is over.
Other forms of letting need to be considered to beat S24 etc
Jean-Pierre,
What has been the Police response ? Its clearly and unarguably a criminal matter.
If the Police are not treating it as such, - contact me and I'll give you specialist advice ( pro-bono ) on how to handle that, as I'm already doing similar for one of my clients.
You will never recover your losses.
But definitely take the offer of Possession friend on the pro bono basis.
That is very generous.
Ordinarily you will never obtain Civil Recovery as this is even worse than trying to evict a tenant.
RGI remains the only viable defence against wrongun tenants.
Trouble is sourcing tenants who could qualify for RGI is rarer than rocking horse doo-doo!!!!!!
It would be useful but if publicity if Possession Friend was successful in recovery such that a postscript could be added to the series to show that at least not all wrongun tenants get away with it.
Or a home-owning guarantor. Across a few hundred properties and several thousand tenancies, I have never not been paid (eventually) and I'm in Court at least a dozen times a year.
A quick £3.00 Land Registry check to make sure all those that are on the Deeds sign as guarantor and there aren't any other charges over the property and I'm happy.
Almost invariably it's family member, which comes with the added bonus that they will usually do a lot of the 'arse-kicking' for you (and often have more 'clout' with the tenant than we would), especially knowing their house is at risk if darling son/granddaughter either doesn't pay or leaves the place in a complete mess.
I always enjoy it when a guarantor is giving me merry hell about how no offspring of theirs would leave a place in the state I am describing. I ask them to meet me at the property and their faces drop in embarrassment. It usually ends with me saying something like, 'So I'll not take the keys from you just now and if you arrange to get the place back into some kind of decent order, I will meet you back here next week.' What follows is an army of family members of the 'darling tenant' spending several days running to the tip, cleaning the house throughout, cutting the grass and doing general DIY on parts that the tenant has damaged...usually without any assistance from the tenant themselves! Not that I care.
If it wasn't for that, they'd just lumber the LL with the problem of their relative.
Home owner guarantors are equally as rare.
None of my tenants could have achieved such a guarantor.
Then of course how much equity should there be in a property?
How is that assessed and who does the assessing?
What about a guarantor with HTB property?
How much would you get if a sale is eventually forced!?
I appreciate a guarantor is better than nothing if RGI ISN'T possible but it ISN'T without it's issues especially as by the time a guarantor home has been force sold the rental property would long ago have been repossessed by a lender.
Not many LL can afford a mortgage whilst evicting a tenant.
I operate in one of the poorest areas of the country (Grimsby) and never have trouble getting a guarantor...it's certainly less onerous than getting them to pass RGI conditions. I do the checking and look for HTB, know the current value and can at very least see the purchase price. Remortgages, particularly equity release ones, show up too. As for affording it, I suppose I'm protected by volume.
Sorry but I don’t like this and never jealous of anyone, usually delighted to see business well. However, LL’s with hundreds of properties is a clear example of why Section 24 was brought -in, to stop this nonsense of Skyting
the Deeds / buy a property then after short time re value take some equity out for Deposit on next property
& so on, totally no tax needed to be paid / no brainer. So now you know why we have S24 impinging on though no fault of our own while we paid taxes through the nose over the years. This must be the unacceptable face of Capitalism, the truth has to be told.
nonsense--all businesses use funding
Absolute nonsense all business borrow to expand or banks and the economy would stand still or regress. The model worked great and the retrospective nature of s24 was the really cruel unfair part there is no justification for taxing a cost end of story
The whole global economy is based on lending to expand that’s why we have financial services which is the life blood of our country especially London.
All businesses leverage to expand their businesses based in part on the inherent and perceived value of their assets
LL are no different.
Just because people live in these assets is irrelevant.
Perhaps what Govt should have done was to insist that any LL should be required to operate as a corporate entity.
This to be achieved by forcing lenders to retain the same mortgage conditions for those LL forced to corporatise.
Obviously no SDLT ; CGT or conveyancing charges to be levied for the transfer process.
So no S24 required as all LL would be corporates able to leverage as and when possible if so desired.
There is NOTHING wrong building a business based on leverage.
EVERY business in the UK does this!!
Exactly
OK but HMRC don’t think we are a business.
HMRC can say what they like those comments are from political muppets I know I run a business manage 80 units myself do my own accounts’ viewings, references , upkeep the whole lot who the hell are those overprivelged toffs to tell me I ain’t running a business just ignore them and stay one step ahead that’s what I do there’s ways round everything with the right knowledge I pay zero attention to any of them.
Oh I do get help from my business partner and family it’s worth noting we run it as a team and it’s full time 24/7 but gives me a great life and those imbeciles will not defeat me furfilling my dream and shatter all the risks I took to get here
And if they do turn the screw to far hopefully most have the exit to sell up and live in the sun let’s look at the positives better than a 9 to 5 in the rat race any day of the week
Good for you NW LL. Been doing the same for a few decades now. And it works.
Good man to
Much doom and gloom listening to idiots in London keep ur head down pay ur tax and u will be fine can’t see it getting any worse than the last 3 years and we are still here
@Luke P
I commend you for your ability to be able to source decent home owning guarantors even more so in what is a very deprived area.
Mind you once we get our fishing waters back Grimsby could recover past glories.
But as of now I find it remarkable that you are able to achieve decent and worthwhile guarantors.
I think you are pretty unique in the PRS!
@Luke P
I commend you for your ability to be able to source decent home owning guarantors even more so in what is a very deprived area.
Mind you once we get our fishing waters back Grimsby could recover past glories.
But as of now I find it remarkable that you are able to achieve decent and worthwhile guarantors.
I think you are pretty unique in the PRS!
Three of us from my office and my best pal (as well as a couple of others) head up the Humber Landlords Association [South Bank] and almost all the members are doing the same. Perhaps it's a regional thing. Mind you, I'm not surprised guarantors have really taken off here in the last twelve years since the introduction of the deposit protection schemes, because there is a very high likelihood of a tenant accruing arrears and/or leaving behind damage. Granted, there are those that cannot get a guarantor, but many simply will not rent and off to the cowboys they go...!
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