Rogue Landlords To Be Named And Shamed

Your new flatmate? (photo: Yortw)

Housing charity Shelter are fighting back against landlords who force Bristol students to live in unhealthy, unsafe conditions.

After the success of their Liverpool campaign, the housing charity is launching Bristol’s Rotten homes; a spoof lettings agency showcasing the nastiest conditions that Bristol residents are forced to live with.

Students get ripped off every day by dodgy landlords wanting hefty cheques for their damp, dingy dwellings. Shelter says that more than a quarter of privately rented homes in Bristol are not up to the Decent Homes Standard.

Some of the worst places they have seen are a home with twelve years of accumulated damp, which seriously affected the tenant’s health, and a half-destroyed kitchen ‘build’ that resulted in the electrocution of a resident. Instead of being compensated, he was threatened with eviction.

More mould than a student fridge (photo: Bryn Pizgauer)

Susan Nash, from Shelter, tells The Tab the aim of the campaign is to urge Bristol’s mayoral candidates to “take action to improve standards”, naming and shaming “rogue landlords” at large around the city.

The Rotten Homes team wants more landlords to sign up to the accreditation scheme so that tenants and landlords are protected from these shocking conditions.

Time to name and shame

The spoof agency will be open from 25^th-27^th October, from 10-5pm, with tenants being encouraged to come on down, share their stories and get their hands on free housing advice from the experts.

You will find The Rotten Homes letting agency at the Parlour Showrooms, 31/31a College Green.

If your landlord is forcing you to live in a hovel, visit  the Rotten Homes Bristol website for help and let The Tab know your horror stories in the comments below so we can help name and shame.