How do we fix the housing crisis? Welcome to The i Paper’s opinion series, in which our writers share their experiences of the UK’s dysfunctional housing system and examine how we can fix it.
The cruel bargain of only being able to buy a house when a loved-one diesThe biggest lie I was told about owning my own homeThe UK’s new rental scandal that no one is talking aboutThe ‘spinster’ housing crisis can no longer be ignoredThere’s nothing attractive about being a landlord anymore
The dead rats were the first sign that something was wrong in my London rental. A housemate found one under our dining table, then I found another behind the sofa. A BT repair man went into our basement to fix our electrics and then told us he couldn’t work in these conditions – there was a dying rat underneath the fuse box.
It turned out that our landlord had been secretly letting himself in to leave poison in the house after failing to inform his new tenants – us – that he was dealing with a rat infestation. This, in addition to the black mould slowly colonising one of the bedrooms, was the final straw for one of my housemates – they moved out shortly after.
My experience might sound extreme, but I guarantee you that most renters in London will have at least one story of a rogue landlord. Take my friend, who recently moved back in with her parents in Essex because her landlord refused to fix her boiler, leaving her with no hot water – in February.
