I had letting experience from hell, confesses inventory boss

The boss of an inventory firm has revealed that she herself had a nightmare experience as a tenant.

Charlotte Leigh, managing director of Howard Inventories, criticised both the landlord and the agents concerned after she was left in a flat with barely any heating through last winter.

She said: “As I am in the property services industry I never thought I would be caught out, but when we sold our flat we had no choice but to rent whilst looking for a house. 

“There were no flats in the area we wanted to rent so we were forced to take a rundown flat in Mill Hill, north London. On the surface the property looked fine, albeit a tad worn. We undertook the rental in good faith. 

“As winter approached it soon became apparent that the hot/cold water didn’t work properly, either emitting scorching hot or freezing cold water. 

“As well as this, the flat was cold, no matter how high we had the heating turned up. My husband soon made a journey into the loft to discover large holes in the roof, so the heat was just escaping! 

“To top it all off, damp and mould started appearing very quickly in our bedroom. When we took the rental it appeared to be in good decorative order, implying that the landlord had simply painted over the damp to hide the issue. 

“We argued with the landlord about the problems and he eventually fixed the roof, after leaving us without adequate heat through the whole of Britain’s coldest winter without doing anything. Throughout the tenancy I suffered various chest infections and shortness of breath, which was down to the mould. To think we were paying £1,200 for the privilege! 

“The managing agents as well as the landlord were just not concerned about the problems.”

Speaking in the wake of last week’s Landlords from Hell programme, she added: “We have had instances of our clerks attending bookings only to discover horrifying things such as properties infested with vermin. 

“One clerk experienced an incident where a landlord had left dangerous electrical items in a property, resulting in her receiving an electric shock when carrying out routine tests.”

She said: “No one is suggesting that all landlords are from hell and all tenants from heaven. In fact it’s quite the opposite. We deal with countless fantastically professional landlords. 

“But there is a minority of unacceptable behaviour on each side.”