Brand new series of ‘Nightmare Tenants Slum Landlords’ starts this week

Brand new series of ‘Nightmare Tenants Slum Landlords’ starts this week

16:12 PM, 15th February 2021, About 3 years ago 4

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The long-awaited new series of Channel 5’s ‘Nightmare Tenants Slum Landlords’ launches on Wednesday 17 February at 8pm.  This 10-part series, filmed prior to COVID-19 restrictions, follows the frontline work of letting agents, eviction specialists and lawyers helping landlords chase rent arrears and get their properties back; as well as council housing enforcement officers clamping down on slum landlords taking advantage of vulnerable tenants.

The first episode features a 13-hour siege by squatters, a guarantor stitched up by his own son, and a landlord, Allen Summerskill, who calls on the help of eviction expert Paul Shamplina from Landlord Action because his tenant owes £16,000 rent arrears.

Allen Summerskill bought his flat in Croydon over 15 years ago as a buy-to-let investment. Just four months into this most recent tenancy, his tenant stopped paying rent.  Despite serving a Section 8 notice, the tenant refused to move out, leaving Allen with no option but to call in the bailiffs. As shown in episode one, the tenant tries to stall the situation by going back to court on the day of the eviction, but the judge grants in Allen’s favour. With Paul’s help, Allen finally gains possession of the property, but he is in for a shock once he gets through the front door.

Talking to Allen ahead of this week’s show, he said: “I’ve been a landlord for quite some time and on this particular occasion I went against my better judgement. The tenant said she did not get on with her previous landlord and I should have pursued for a reference but didn’t – it was a mistake. I am just so grateful to Paul and his team for everything they did. Had Paul not suggested we go back to the court that day, the eviction may not have gone ahead when it did. Shortly after, the pandemic hit, and I would now be faced with a further 18 months without rent and without my property. With the current debt and damage to the property, I’m already out of pocket by £20,000.”

Paul Shamplina comments: “I’m so pleased that the latest series is finally airing because the stories we have featured will really resonate with a lot of landlords – there are some shocking cases. It is not just troublesome tenants, but also some rogue letting agents too, and we really want to keep banging the drum about the necessity for landlords to carry out thorough due diligence at all stages of the lettings process. Obviously COVID-19 has changed the landscape of evictions at present, but the mistakes are nearly always made at the start of, or even before, the tenancy.”

 Watch Nightmare Tenants Slum Landlords on Channel 5, Wednesday 17 February at 8pm

Contact Landlord Action

Specialists in tenant eviction and debt collection. Regulated by The Law Society.


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Comments

The Forever Tenant

10:12 AM, 16th February 2021, About 3 years ago

I honestly hate shows like this.

Not only is it trash TV that is being made for sensationalism, but it gives the wrong impression of both Tenants and Landlords alike.

Are there terrible tenants? of course there are, but they do make up a minority of the tenants out there.

Are there terrible landlords? Of course there are, but they make up a minority of the landlords out there.

Watching shows like these makes it look like everyone involved in renting is a horrible human being. I really wish that they would do a story about how a tenant or landlord has helped out the other in some special way. Something that might actually improve peoples opinions instead of dragging it down further.

JB

10:50 AM, 16th February 2021, About 3 years ago

I think the new series is called: 'Evicted! Nightmare Tenants'. This speaks volumes on where the majority of problems lie.

The landlord suffers far more than the tenant - which is often of the tenants own making. It can break a landlord who has usually done nothing wrong and has everything to lose while the tenant walks away to inflict damage to another landlord.

I feel sorry for good tenants who not only may get tarred with the same brush but who are paying for the debts left behing by the bad tenants.

Darren Peters

14:05 PM, 16th February 2021, About 3 years ago

I sometimes watch old episodes of the Sweeney or The Professionals and make observations to my daughter like, 'yes they did used to smoke in offices and drive cars like that'. And 'Mr Cowley was organised enough to have his calls forwarded to whichever random house he turned up at because Iphones weren't invented then.

I fear I'll look at this series, filmed a year or so ago, and cynically say things like, 'Yes back in the olden days tenants did really have to pay their rent or they would have to leave'. Seems like a different world.

Mick Roberts

5:52 AM, 22nd February 2021, About 3 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Darren Peters at 16/02/2021 - 14:05
Ha ha yes:

I fear I'll look at this series, filmed a year or so ago, and cynically say things like, 'Yes back in the olden days tenants did really have to pay their rent or they would have to leave'. Seems like a different world.

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