‘There’re all these new laws to protect tenants, but nothing to protect landlords’

A Welsh landlord has called for better protection when tenants refuse to pay rent after finally managing to kick out a nightmare family who left the house in an appalling state.

Tenants at the Tylorstown property (picutred), in the Rhondda valley, refused to pay rent for more than two years and left so much filth, litter and damage that professional cleaners will have to fumigate and clean the property.

They also refused to let the landlord visit and when the case finally went to court, they wouldn’t budge until the bailiffs arrived.

However, landlords in Wales face even tougher eviction rules when the Renting Homes Act goes live on 1^st December, when they’ll have to give new renters six months’ notice for no fault evictions.

12-month notice

It will no longer be possible to issue a notice in the first six months, meaning all contract-holders will have a minimum 12 months of security at the start of their tenancy.

“It’s the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen or smelled in my life,” he told WalesOnline.

“There’s mud and faeces all around the house, the windows have been smashed and there’s been egg on the front windows for two years – since kids threw eggs – that they never bothered to clean. There are cans in the bedroom that are filled with pee and the back garden is full of black bags of rubbish.”

He’s now owed about £11,000 in rent arrears and despairs of the legal situation. “It’s ridiculous. There’s all these new laws to protect tenants, but there’s nothing to protect landlords. Some good landlords are thousands of pounds out of pocket and there’s no protection.”