The 20 Year Hoarder

Have you ever thought about the condition of a property when lived in by hoarder or are you a hoarder yourself?

What repercussions this may have on the property, yourself or the landlord financially?

We have recently re-gained possession of a property which was lived in by a hoarder. The tenant had lived in the property for nearly 20 years and we started managing the property 18 months ago. From the start the tenant was only allowing access for health and safety activities, this became difficult when trying to carry out property inspections and dealing with compliance.

Time had passed and the lack of contact from the tenant became concerning in which we had no choice but to approach Adult Social Services and they eventually found the tenant a more suitable property for her disability needs. Little did we know that the tenant would not remove all the items from the property and the landlord would be left to cover the bill for removing the belongings.

I’m sure if you use your imagination, you can picture what a property of 20 years hoarding can look like. The landlord of course wanted the property to revert to its original condition and we at Seekers wanted to ensure we were assisting in this matter and making sure this stressful time was made that bit easier for the landlord. I provided several quotes from removal companies, and after comparing the prices, one was allocated to carry out the job at a cost of £8000!

The landlord and I was not prepared for what was uncovered during this process.

Can you take a wild guess as to what we discovered and how much it cost to remove the items, review the photos below and comment your thoughts?

If you decide to become a hoarder in a property you do not own, consider the damage this may cause to the property, your living condition and if this is habitable for yourself and other parties living in the property. Would you rectify the damages caused or would you do this if you owned your property?

To Be Continued...

By Hayley Burgess - Tenancy Manager