Nobody likes living in damp, squalid accommodation, but unfortunately, there are a large number of people out there who have very little choice because they are forced to take what they can get. The Channel 4 Dispatches programme on Monday night was a good illustration of the type of accommodation on offer at the lower end of the rental housing market, but a quick glance through the news this morning soon showed me that squalid accommodation is rife in many areas.
I take pride in my rental properties and always make sure they are well maintained. If a tenant informs me about a repair or problem, I do my best to have it fixed quickly. After all, if I don’t spend time and money maintaining my properties, eventually they will become devalued and my tenants will give me serious grief. But aside from that, a failure to provide a good standard of accommodation is also a breach of housing regulations, so as well as a devalued property and unhappy tenants, you could also end up subject to fines and convictions.
One landlord in London was recently fined £3,000 plus £2,030 in costs for failing to sort out extensive damp in a ground floor flat she rented out and, according to the news report, the flat sounded pretty grim and frankly I wouldn’t want to live in it!
As landlords, we have a duty of care to provide properties of a good standard, so if in doubt, ask yourself: “Would I want to spend the night in that flat/bedsit/house?”
If the answer is “no”, perhaps it is time to something about it.
