Dead pets, adult toys and a coffin – some of the shocking items left behind by tenants

Dead pets, adult toys and a coffin – some of the shocking items left behind by tenants

0:08 AM, 31st January 2024, About 10 months ago 11

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When landlords were asked to share the most unusual items that had been left behind by tenants, the most bizarre included adult toys, the ashes of a relative, bottles of urine, a coffin, underwear, a BMW and pets – but only ‘some’ of were alive.

Research from Direct Line business insurance reveals that 72% of landlords have had to deal with belongings left by tenants after a tenancy has ended.

Rubbish was the main headache (63%), followed by general junk (56%), clothes (42%) and kitchenware (38%).

Two-thirds (66%) of landlords say they’ve needed to dispose of an old tenant’s belongings, 25% have had to store belongings and a third (32%) have had to chase down ex-tenants to collect their items.

‘Trying to reunite ex-tenants with their belongings’

Direct Line’s landlord product manager, Sarah Casey, said: “Landlords often face the grim task of clearing up and trying to reunite ex-tenants with their belongings after they’ve moved out, a task which can be both time consuming and costly.

“Ensuring that your tenancy agreement has a clause relating to the disposal of items left behind by tenants is a great first step to ensuring that everyone is on the same page.

“Trying to track down ex-tenants after they have moved out can be tricky, so make sure that you have their contact details should you need to contact them after the tenancy has ended.”

She added: “As with most things in life, prevention is better than cure.

“Make sure that you use a good tenant referencing system to help prevent problems and ensure that you or a representative attend the check-out inspection on the day tenants move out.”

Clearing up isn’t cheap

Tidying up after tenants have moved out is not cheap and it costs, on average, landlords £209 to clear up their tenants’ mess.

Also, 12% of landlords said they’d had to fork out more than £500 to deal with the issue.

And 34% of landlords say they’ve had to delay letting new tenants move in while they dealt with the ex-tenant’s property.

But 23% have had to seek legal advice or take legal action to deal with the problem.

While there are strict rules on what a landlord can and can’t do with an ex-tenant’s property, 32% of landlords didn’t have a tenancy clause about the disposal of a tenant’s left behind belongings.

Of those surveyed, 52% of landlords were clear on the correct procedure to follow.


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Michelle Reeve

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12:19 PM, 2nd February 2024, About 10 months ago

A dead cat left in tenants freezer and half a carcass of chicken left in the oven for long enough to produce a lot of maggots. Both same tenant

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