Tenant eviction company Landlord Action has welcomed the government proposal for a minimum bedroom size in rented properties – but doubts it will work.
Founder Paul Shamplina said that local authorities will not have the resources to police the legal requirement for a bedroom to be at least 6.5 sq m.
He also said that it is not generally landlords who cram people into their properties, but tenants who sub-let.
Shamplina said: “Landlord Action has never seen so many sub-letting cases as it has over the last two years, with an 18% increase.
“This has been fuelled by sky-high rents preventing some tenants from being able to afford even single-unit accommodation, forcing many to resort to bedsits or shared accommodation.”
In a recent north London sub-letting case handled by Landlord Action, partition walls were erected to create more bedrooms. Most were barely large enough to fit a single mattress in, and the rogue tenant was sub-letting each “room” for £750 per month.
Shamplina said: “Cases like this are not only damaging to the property and financially devastating for landlords, but are also extremely unsafe, creating untold health and safety issues, particularly relating to fire safety and sanitation issues.
“They should also act as a reminder to landlords of the importance of carrying out thorough tenant referencing checks, as well as regular property inspections.”
How true this is….
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Never mind any of that, I’m sat here struggling with ‘guiltier’ in the sub headline. It seems that is the comparative adjective of guilty but it feels wrong, a bit like having your vest on backwards.
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Not as bad as the people who tried to rent out the cupboard under their stairs, real Harry Potter style.
http://metro.co.uk/2015/09/30/yet-another-crazy-room-for-rent-in-london-this-ones-a-cupboard-under-the-stairs-for-500-a-month-5414945/
£500 a month!!!
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Can this be true? Do tenants do things they shouldn’t? and there I was thinking it is only landlords that are the demons.
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