4th
Feb 2013
A landlord’s rented house was stripped bare after his tenant was moved without him being made aware by the Council that has left him with a bill of nearly £20,000.
In 2009 Mohamed Shabir had rented his property in Croydon, to a tenant he found through Bromley Council and in November last year he was shocked to discover that upon finding no tenant at his property, that the boiler and gas meter had been stolen as well as the copper pipes and cables.
Mr Shabir had no idea that anything was wrong as Croydon Council had continued to make housing benefit payments to cover the rent.
He found out from the Council that had continued with payments that the tenant had every intention of moving back into the property.
He also found out that his property had been empty for almost a year, after the tenant was moved by a third party organisation.
As the property may have been empty for at least four weeks before the theft, Mr Shabir has been unable to claim on his insurance and estimates for the cost to repair the property will be between £15,000 and £20,000.
Mr Shabir blames Croydon Council for not letting him know that his tenant had moved but they stated that it was not their responsibility as it was not involved in the tenancy agreement and was only responsible for paying housing benefit.
Mr Shabir said: "If the property had been abandoned I should have been told, I feel let down."
A Croydon Council spokesman said: "This particular case relates to a private tenant therefore the council has no responsibility for the arrangement with the landlord.
- PIMS Comment Sadly whilst we can sympathise with Mr Shabirs plight the fact remain ones first duty is to themselve - maybe undertaking periodic inspections or befriending neighbours adjoining the property may have resulted in an earlier warning - A landlords' best friend (spies) are the neighbours there is no harm giving them your number.
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