A landlord in Blackpool, Lancashire is still trying to come to terms with the damage caused by tenants who vacated one of his properties earlier this month.
Karim Haji is a well-known landlord in the Fylde area and owns a number of properties in the region. He has never though, encountered the scenes he discovered at a property recently vacated by tenants in Caunce Street, Blackpool. The tenants had left a trail of destruction in the three bedroomed home that Mr Haji estimates will take £12,000 to put right. The property had been renovated just 12 months earlier but the damage caused to the property, some of which was caused by the tenant’s pets, has rendered the place uninhabitable.
Carpets had been ripped from the floor and had been heavily soiled by the animals, paper ripped off the walls and soft furnishings completely destroyed. They left dirty clothing and unwashed pots and pans strewn around the home and Mr Haji said there was clear evidence that drug use had taken place on the properties. Mr Haji, who has already reported the matter to the police was still fuming as he spoke to the press, saying “These people are worse than animals, their dogs had soiled the place and they were living among it. I was absolutely sickened when I opened the door; the smell was bad enough to knock me back before I even saw the state of it. I want tax payers in Blackpool to see how their money is being used because these were DSS tenants. I am going to be left seriously out of pocket, the dogs have damaged the walls, chewed the units and ruined furniture. They have absolutely no respect for anybody else’s property, It will cost me around £12,000 to put right again.”
Unfortunately Mr Haji may have to fund a lot of the repairs himself as the landlord insurance policy he owned did not cover him for damage caused by animals and pets, and he urged fellow landlords to check not only the tenants that they let a property out to, but the property insurance they take out on the property.