September 10, 2010
Pockets of UK tenants are being unfairly targeted by rogue landlords intent on ignoring protection laws, a leading charity claims.
According to housing charity Shelter, tenants are increasingly providing evidence that a minority of landlords in the private rented sector are letting out properties unfit to live in or enforcing illegal evictions.
Research shows that 90% of environmental health officers who deal directly with private tenants had encountered harassing, overly zealous landlords.
In addition, almost all officers said they had come across landlords who persistently ignored their responsibilities, while 90% had encountered cases of severe damp or mould in properties in the past year, or electrical or fire safety hazards.
"It is simply not acceptable that people are handing over their hard earned cash to live in houses that are run-down, squalid and in some cases even dangerous," commented Shelter Chief Executive Campbell Robb.
In August this year, two such landlords were challenged separately through the courts and fined more than £5,000 in total after illegal evicting their tenants.
Landlords Zahid Malik and Ram Mahendran were both convicted of unlawfully evicting tenants who had properly paid their rents and abided by all the terms of their tenancies.
According to the environmental health officers, landlords like Mr Malik and Mr Mahendran often target vulnerable members of society for financial gain and problems will only increase unless tenants start fighting for their rights.
If you’re a victim of an improper landlord and believe your rights as a tenant have been impinged, seek legal advice today and make sure such atrocities do not go unpunished.
