Following on from the Landlord’s Nightmare post and subsequent update yesterday, I think it’s fair to say the place is a bit of a mess.

(There are a few photos at the end of this post.)

Apparently, according to the locksmith for whom this is a regular call-out these days, we have had a lucky escape. Relatively speaking. Really? He went on to show The Other Half and Daughter a photograph of a beautiful listed property in Haverfordwest, still immaculate on the outside, but utterly ruined inside, holes smashed in the walls, etc, etc. Heart-breaking.

It seems that what went on here may have been some sort of incubator system, hence the damage was not quite as bad as it could otherwise have been.

Terrified Tenant

A further complication has arisen.

After changing the locks yesterday, in a roundabout way we found out that one of the tenants – who had given notice and cleared off at the end of last week – had been terrified of the situation. He knew what was going on but was too scared to say anything. He turned up at a homeless charity, but still has right of access to this house during his notice period. According to the agent (hmm), this tenant has offered to clear up the mess, despite still being scared to go back, as a sort of apology for not saying anything earlier.

The Other Half is on the case, determined to get to the bottom of this particular added complication today.

It may be unforgiveable of me, but at the moment I find myself rather hardened to sob stories. It is understandable that someone could be terrified of a situation like this, and if that is true, then my heart goes out to the victim. However, right now, this minute, I am not sure what to believe or who to trust.

Project Clean Up

The Other Half is spending today dealing with the aftermath. Telephone calls to the police to find out whether we can go ahead and clean up, where we stand with insurance, digging out the tenancy agreement, working out repair costs, etc, etc.

Tomorrow, as long as he gets the all clear form the police, he plans to take the van and trailer to the property and start clearing out. We may need to get specialist cleaners in afterwards, but let’s sort out the mess first so that we can see exactly what we are dealing with.