A DODGY landlord left flatmates homeless for two months after moving them into a flat with no working kitchen and holes in the walls.
Lewis Smith, 34, and his then-partner Matthew moved to London from Brighton in early 2015 with a female friend to a flat in Brixton.
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But after shelling out a £2,350 deposit, one month’s rent of £1,700 in advance and £600 in agency fees they were left out of pocket and with nowhere to live.
“We walked into the house and it was literally a building site,” Lewis told The Sun.
“It was crazy. There was no kitchen, no bathroom, none of the bedrooms were ready.
“There was a hole in the wall were you could put your hand through into the garden.”
Although, Lewis is just one of thousands of renters across the country facing similar problems.
Today tenants are being warned to look out for rogue letting agents, as new data from London Trading Standards (LTS) reveals that almost half break the law.
Unfortunately Lewis and his other flatmates had signed the contract to their flat with the promise that it would be renovated before they moved in.
“One thing that has always stuck in my mind was that he told me he’d gone over to see the kitchen and it looked amazing,” Lewis said. “The whole thing was a lie.”
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“We just thought it was going to be fine until we rocked up there on the day.”
On move in day the friends arrived at the property to find the letting agent wasn’t there.
Instead he arrived late, appeared hungover, and was eating a burger. He told them that he had cleared a small space in the debris and suggested the three of them could sleep there.
Eventually, the letting agent agreed to house them in an AirBnB, but refused to pay for it for more than a week.
After that, he suggested they could move into his office, which also happened to be his home.
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Frustrated, the tenants chose to simply leave the stuff in the agent’s office and stay with friends, leaving them without a home for almost two months.
They repeatedly asked the agent when the property would be ready, but the agent denied all responsibility and blamed the delay on builders.
“It was just like we were constantly fed this stream of lies,” Lewis added.
When they did eventually move in the flat wasn’t up to scratch and there was still no working kitchen, leaving them hundreds of pounds out of pocket as they had to eat out every night.
But, since they’d signed a contract with the letting agent, they feared they couldn’t leave their tenancy without risking their hefty deposit.
“We didn’t know where to turn to, that was our biggest problem. We were really confused about what we were supposed to be doing,” Lewis said.”
“I got signed off for three weeks from work because I was so depressed by all of it.”
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After moving out of the flat in late 2016 they also found out that the agent has illegally not put their £4,650 deposit into a rental scheme.
They threatened the agent with legal action and he agreed to pay the majority of it back.
According to London Trading Standards (LTS), only 46 percent of the letting agents that they inspected between April 2018 and June 2019 were complying with the law.
In the same period, 256 rogue letting agents were fined a total of over £1.2million for ignoring the law.
There were also 14 cases of London boroughs taking dodgy agents to court for a range of offences, including breaches of unfair trading rules.
Operations Director of LTS, Stephen Night, said: “Dodgy agents are far too commonplace across London and private renters need to be very careful not to be ripped off.”
Luckily, two new laws have recently been brought in which give trading standards services more power to prosecute law-breaking agents.
The Tenant Fees Act, which applies to all tenancies that started after June 1, 2019, makes it illegal for letting agents to charge fees and strictly limits deposits.
And, since April 1, 2019, letting agents have to hold client’s money in a separate bank account and sign up to a scheme that protects the money.
What are my rights as a tenant?
As a private tenant, you legally have the right to:
- Live in a property that’s safe and in a good state of repair
- Have your deposit returned at the end of the tenancy, provided that you meet the terms of your tenancy agreement
- Have your deposit protected by your landlord throughout your tenancy, provided you started your tenancy after 2007
- Challenge any charges by your landlord that you believe are ‘excessively high’
- Know the identity of your landlord
- Live in the property undisturbed
- Be protected from unfair rent and unfair eviction
- Have a written agreement if you have a fixed-term tenancy of more than three years
- Not pay certain fees when setting up a new tenancy, provided your tenancy began after June 1 2019
- See an Energy Performance Certificate for the property
If you believe your landlord is infringing your rights, contact your local Citizens Advice branch or visit their website.
But Dan Wilson Craw, director of Generation Rent, warned renters to still be cautious.
He said: “If a letting agent asks for something unusual, like a payment for something that is not rent or a refundable deposit, then you should question this and seek advice if unsure.”
Chris Norris from the National Landlords Association (NLA) also encouraged tenants to check their rights and called for more dodgy agents to be prosecuted.
He said: “We encourage all landlords to do their due diligence when selecting a letting agent to make sure the one they choose is professional and acts according to current legislation.”
We contacted ARLA Propertymark, a professional and regulatory body for letting agents, with a request for comment and will update this story with their response.
If you want more information about your rights as a tenant, visit the Citizens Advice website.
Thinking of buying rather then renting? The Help to Buy Isa scheme may be for you.
And, here’s how you can get a mortgage for your home if you have a poor credit score.
Make sure you aren’t overpaying on your bills, too, as we found you could pay more for your bills depending on where you live.
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