Councillor's dispute with his tenant over damp in rented home

HE CLAIMS HE'S COMPLIED FULLY WITH THE STANDARDS REQUIRED

- By OLIVER PRIDMORE

A SENIOR Nottinghamshire Labour councillor insists he has “complied fully” with standards expected of landlords after a man and wife described “horrifying” damp in one of his properties.

The husband-and-wife, paying at least £500 a month in rent throughout their tenancy, say the main issue at their Worksop property was extreme damp that caused wallpaper to peel away and floorboards near the front door to fall through.

The Worksop property is one of several rented out by Councillor Charles Adams, a member of Basset-law District Council's cabinet.

A couple living in one of the properties owned by Councillor Adams, through his Pinpoint Consulting letting company, have now left after nearly a decade.

The 61-year-old man, who had been living in the property and did not want to be named, said: “It became so bad we didn’t even have the grandchildren over towards the end. Since we've been in our new place, they've re-carpeted, they turned up with a new oven one day - it’s been night and day from what we were getting. When we left and were clearing the house, it became even more clear how bad it was. It was horrifying.

“In the time that we were renting there, we must have paid between £50,000 and £60,000 of rent and the way we were treated was just abysmal.”

Damp affected two main areas of the property - the living room by the front door and the conservatory.

The damp by the front door affected the floorboards at the entrance to the property. A repair was made by a joiner who installed a wooden beam to stabilise the floor.

The former tenant said the floorboards ended up “falling in” last summer and this was reported to Councillor Adams.