A
Landlord from South Tyneside has spoken of his anger over the state his
property was left in. Colin Campbell, who owns a number of properties in the
borough, was renting out an upstairs flat in Broughton Road, South Shields.
The
private landlord says he learnt through a third party that the tenant intended
to move out. The 59-year-old
asked for the keys to the flat, but the tenant simply left the keys with a
nearby shopkeeper.
Mr
Campbell, who lives in Cleadon Meadows, Cleadon, says that he went to inspect
the property and was disgusted at the mess it was left in.
He said:
“I did have a spare set of keys, but the tenant had locked herself out a while
ago and asked to borrow the keys and she never gave me them back.
“I’d
asked her if she was leaving and she said she was. I tried to arrange to go
round but she never got back to me.
“It was
only by chance that I popped into the shop and the shopkeeper told me she’d
left the keys there.
“I went
round and I couldn’t believe the mess she had left it in.
“I’ve
been a landlord for 25 years and this is definitely in the top three worst states
I’ve ever seen.”
He added:
“The bedroom was covered in rubbish, the kitchen was a mess, the settees were
overturned and there was a mattress on the floor in the living room.
“The
carpets were filthy and the plaster was coming off the walls, the curtains were
hanging down and the rails were hanging off. I couldn't believe it.”
Mr
Campbell says that it will cost him around £1,000 to get the property ready for
another tenant to move in.
He said:
“As a landlord you find that there are certain people who go from property to
property and leave them like this.
“I don’t
know how anyone can be happy to live like that.
“ I'm a
member of the Landlord’s Association and I’ll be going to them to see if I can
get her name blacklisted. It’s an absolute disgrace.”
