A Sandyford couple have told how they felt "abandoned, angry and frightened for their safety" after a catalogue of issues at the house they rented in Sandyford, Newcastle.
Students Martha Airey, 21, and Dom Brown, 25, told how their excitement at getting the keys for their first home together and moving in the day after they returned from holiday turned into a horror story as they had to deal with a string of problems starting just weeks after they moved in last June.
And although letting agents Seekers said the landlord had dealt with the complaints in "a timely manner" and that the house was fully certified, Dom and Martha claim that their complaints were not taken seriously until Martha's mother stepped in.
The pair have started a campaign to demand compensation of £5,000 and a public apology from Seekers and have held a protest outside the agent's Newcastle city centre office with other members of tenants union ACORN, a network of low-income people campaigning for fairer housing.
According to Martha and Dom, who paid £800 a month to rent the property, the problems they have encountered in the last nine months include:
- A broken shower just weeks after they moved in, which left them with no shower for eight days while it was repaired;
- Damp in the spare bedroom and bathroom which triggered Martha's asthma;
- Rats in the back garden which were eventually traced to under their garden shed;
- Two gas leaks, which Martha and Dom claim made them both ill;
- The couple claim Seekers did not take their complaints seriously and missed opportunities to deal with the problems quickly
- In addition, the couple say that the alternative accommodation provided by Seekers after the first gas leak was dirty and too far from both their part-time jobs.
The couple, who both work in hospitality in addition to being full-time students, say the problems disrupted their studies and they had to hand the wrangle over to Martha's mother to enable them to keep on track at university.
Seekers have offered £700 compensation, but the tenants say this does not even begin to cover the physical and mental harm caused. Martha described the offer as: "Insulting. They have caused us so much stress and worry, I don't want them to put anyone else through what we've been through," she said.
"We are moving out in June and it can't come quick enough. We were so excited to be moving in together, but we had no idea the problems we were going to face.
"The shower went wrong soon after we moved in and we should have known then that we were going to have problems, but we never thought things would be so bad. When we had the gas leak, the repair man the agency sent said it was safe, but we were frightened to stay there.
"We were left walking the streets until our parents paid for a hotel room on the first night, then Seekers sent us to a dirty Airbnb miles away on the second night, so we ended up staying in a hotel again, although Seekers have reimbursed us for that. After that, we were moved into another Airbnb - which we found ourselves - so we were out of our home for 12 nights in total.
"After the leak, I went to the RVI as I felt ill, and I was told that it would be best if I stayed away from the house. Dom also had to be checked out as he had the same symptoms as me. I was scared that I wasn't going to wake up.
"Things settled down for a while and then we had a second gas leak. We can't understand why we were allowed to return home when things hadn't been fixed."
Dom said: "I feel that Seekers did not treat us with respect because we are students. We are both adults and I felt it was important that we asserted our rights as adults.
"We had to really put pressure on Seekers when we started seeing rats in our garden, and although the workman they sent said the rats were probably congregating under our shed, it was weeks before it was removed, and when it was, there was a rats' nest under it."
A Seekers spokesperson said: "As with any home, repairs and maintenance will be required from time to time. In this instance, the landlord has fully cooperated with the tenants and appropriate action has always been taken in a timely manner.
"The property is fully certified, including gas safety certification which is renewed annually. Independent specialist contractors have provided consistent guidance to the tenants around appropriate levels of heating and ventilation, after identifying issues with condensation as opposed to damp in the property.
"We're committed to providing a professional service to all our clients and customers and wholly disagree that these tenants have been treated unfairly because they are students. We continue to encourage the tenants to engage with our complaints procedure to reach a suitable outcome. If this is unsuccessful, then the case can be referred to The Property Ombudsman."
Andrew Cummings, chair of ACORN Newcastle, said: "ACORN believes in safe and secure housing for all, and we'll continue to act to defend our members."
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