Cannabis farm in my rental property?
1 year ago | 10 comments
Landlords hit with hefty repair costs after huge cannabis operation busted
12:01 AM, 28th April 2025, 12 months ago
4
Landlords paid the price after three men were sentenced for using rented properties for cannabis farming.
The convictions come after a police investigation targeted illegal drug production in residential properties.
The trio used a property management firm to set up 75 cannabis farms across Leeds with 7,636 plants, weighing 458kg, with an estimated street value of £4.5 million.
The scheme exploited legitimate landlords, who faced substantial repair costs due to property damage caused by the grows.
Substantial financial loss to the landlords
Inspector Alastair Nicholls said: “The large-scale production of cannabis by organised crime groups in residential properties in Harehills is an issue that fuels wider crime and anti-social behaviour in the area and is something we have had significant success in tackling since the CommUnity Harehills project was launched two years ago.
“These men have been convicted over their roles in providing properties for crime gangs who were producing millions of pounds worth of the drug on an industrial scale.
“These activities also caused substantial financial loss to the legitimate landlords who had to repair their properties from the extensive damage caused.”
Three men sentenced
The police breakthrough came via the ‘CommUnity Harehills’ initiative, a Home Office-backed strategy launched in March 2023 to combat crime in the area.
Leeds East Neighbourhood Policing Team spearheaded raids across multiple addresses, leading to the arrests of Mirel Neatu, Marius Nedelcu and Seyan Debnath.
At Leeds Crown Court, the three men pleaded guilty to charges of permitting premises to be used for drug production.
Neatu, 37, received a 32-month prison sentence, Nedelcu, 40, was jailed for 28 months and Debnath, 48, was handed a suspended 21-month term, alongside 300 hours of unpaid work and a 12-week curfew.
The investigation also recovered £14,000 in cash at Debnath’s home, with the police now pursuing a confiscation order to seize it as criminal proceeds.
Collaboration with Leeds City Council’s ‘Rogue Landlord Unit’ proved instrumental in dismantling the network.
Watch West Yorkshire Police raid one of the properties:
Tags:
cannabis production, CommUnity Harehills, drug bust, Harehills crime, Landlords, Leeds cannabis farm, Leeds police operation, organised crime Leeds
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Member Since June 2013 - Comments: 238 - Articles: 49
10:11 AM, 28th April 2025, About 12 months ago
This post goes to show how important it is for landlords to be super careful when selecting tenants. Criminals often pose as respectable people, and then once in occupation of a property, they will proceed to convert it into a cannabis farm.
A common warning sign is when applicants offer to to pay large sums in cash.
Once tenants are in occupation, landlords should always carry out regular inspections of properties, ideally every three months. If the criminals know that landlords will be carrying out regular inspections, it will deter them and they will more likely go somewhere else.
If you have failed to carry out careful tenant referencing and have failed to do regular property inspections, then most insurers will refuse claims for cannabis farm damage.
The cost of putting a property right can be up to £80,000 or more so not something landlords want to risk.
My Landlord Law service https://landlordlaw.co.uk/ has guidance on checking and referencing tenants (with draft letters) and guidance on carrying out inspections to help landlords avoid this problem.
Member Since April 2018 - Comments: 374
10:46 AM, 28th April 2025, About 12 months ago
Surprise the landlord wasn’t banged up instead. Any proceeds from this crime should be passed back to the landlord as in some cases of fraud. A criminal can then have a reduced sentence.
Member Since October 2020 - Comments: 1178
11:59 AM, 28th April 2025, About 12 months ago
They need to be careful about choosing letting agents too.
Member Since September 2018 - Comments: 3538 - Articles: 5
7:56 PM, 28th April 2025, About 12 months ago
Reply to the comment left by Tessa Shepperson at 28/04/2025 – 10:11
with due respect Tessa, this wont make a blinding bit of difference.
A grow house can literally spring up overnight and a crop can be sown and harvested in 3 months – all in between an inspection visit.
Apart from anything else the ‘tenant” will have changed the locks, reinforced the door and wont communicate with you either so the idea of ‘granting you access’ is never going to happen once they are in there.
The only way if you suspect a grow house it to call the police and get them to break down the door. A busted door is not going to touch the sides on the costs if the place has been wired up etc anyway. At least then you can secure, board up and consider your options The ‘tenant’ wont be taking you to court for illegal eviction.
Other option is to alert the rival supplier – they will go in and clear the place of the weed and all the growing gear for you in one hit….. 😉
Most insurance claims for grow house damage are capped at £5k or £10k and then you will be flagged as making a claim so will hit hard again at a later point (if you do up and rent out again).