warning to would be landlords!

bootalishus

Hi

just heard that a house we were looking to rent last year (about 4mths ago) was raided at the weekend. the new tenants had turned it into a cannabis green house. This was a 4 bed detached house in a very respectable area and the rent was £1700 a mth. The place is trashed - full of mould all the floors and ceiling ruined as is electrics and plumbing.

The police said that the would be cannabis growers are now moving into nicer houses in nicer areas (less likely to be spotted by the police).

The house was let through a well established agent. I feel so sorry for the owners as it was their family home which they had been trying to sell, I am sure the damage caused and hassel must far outway the rent and deposit they were paid.

I can only presume the tenants references were fake.

tbs624

All those greedy LLs who like to insist on rent upfront should be especially careful- apparently those who grow "waccy baccy" or manufacture other illict substances often volunteer to pay a lump sum in advance to cover the full tenancy

SquatNow has recounted tales of police helicopters spotting the properties where heat is given off by the equipment used for this type of horticulture.

The only good bit is that these folk tend to smoke outside the rental property so as not to blow themselves & their chemicals up.;)

See here for a booklet for property managers produced by Suffolk Police

MissMoneypenny

We just had a house near us raided by immigration in the early hours of the morning. It was a surprise to the neighbours as they came across as normal British family, children going to the local schools etc. The house is not in a good state now.

poppysarah

Police say to let them know about suspicious activity including curtains being shut all day and night, people coming and going at odd hours... Sounds like students to me...

paintpot

I know of two landlords who have had their houses turned into cannabis factories and the repair costs can be astonomical. Generally, they seriously bodge the electrics and can also mess with the structure of the property including the roof in order to gain ventilation. One, due to the bodged electrics, they had caused internal fires. All the floors and ceiling were also drilled with huge holes for the vents. One they had tapped into the mains and were discovered due to buzzing with the electrics in neighbours' properties. A heat seeking helicopter confirmed suspicians due to the hydroponic lights. It cost a hefty sum for the landlord to sort that out.
Furthermore, the landlord's insurance, subject to policy terms, will not always pay out so for landlords out there, check your policy!

I dealt with a crack den but having reported that to the police they weren't interested. I dealt with the tenant in question and the fallout from it which was extremely unpleasant. Even after the tenant left I had his "mates" and people who had been "squatting" in the flat "residing" in the garden shed frightening new tenants and leaving their needles everywhere etc along for a long time. I had to go to the lengths of demolishing the sheds in the garden, locking all gates etc to keep them out. Even after the police came and dragged one junkie out the garden late at night he was back the next day. Some of what they did was really repulsive and the flat was boobie trapped with needles when they left.


And yes, the curtains were drawn from morning noon til night. To be honest, the whole neighbourhood knew it was a crack den, the windows had been shot at etc. They may as well have written "crack den" on the windows and the police would still have driven by. :rolleyes:

PasturesNew

There's been a lot of this going on for a long time. Quite a few reports about it online, it crops up in the news too.

Here's another recent one, in Cornwall. Three Chinese blokes. Now, if you know anything about Cornwall, you'll know that being non-white will stick out like a sore thumb ... and they were in a tiny hamlet.

http://www.thisiswesternmorningnews.co.uk/news/POLICE-SWOOP-CANNABIS-FARM/article-587372-detail/article.html

A MASSIVE Vietnamese-style cannabis factory has been discovered in Cornwall – the first of its kind in the county ... The windows of the three-storey building had been blacked out and a sophisticated growing system, with high-intensity lights and fans, had been installed in several rooms. ... the property which is advertised on the Internet as a holiday cottage. ...

In most cases, electrical wiring is run throughout the house to power lights and ventilation along with a watering system.

Gangs often tamper with the electricity meter, or bypass it, to avoid paying and attracting attention with suspiciously high bills.

Huge amounts of damage are caused with ducting being run through walls and ceilings.

Properties are often water- damaged, while spent compost is commonly dumped in another part of the house. Locks are changed to prevent landlords gaining access.

Det Con Bradley said the bill to repair the damage caused at the 13 drugs factories found in Plymouth ran into hundreds of thousands of pounds. Properties are sometimes rented for 12 months for cash upfront.

Landlords then return and find their properties destroyed

...

One villager, who asked not to be named, said some harboured suspicions after the windows at the millhouse were covered on the inside.

Villagers had also questioned if the "comings and goings" at the house were related to a recent series of power cuts.

"Nothing like this has ever happened here before," he said. "People were speculating about what was going on and a cannabis factory was a firm favourite but no-one truly believed it because they didn't think it could happen in Porthcothan

barnaby-bear

bootalishus wrote: »

Hi

just heard that a house we were looking to rent last year (about 4mths ago) was raided at the weekend. the new tenants had turned it into a cannabis green house. This was a 4 bed detached house in a very respectable area and the rent was £1700 a mth. The place is trashed - full of mould all the floors and ceiling ruined as is electrics and plumbing.

The police said that the would be cannabis growers are now moving into nicer houses in nicer areas (less likely to be spotted by the police).

The house was let through a well established agent. I feel so sorry for the owners as it was their family home which they had been trying to sell, I am sure the damage caused and hassel must far outway the rent and deposit they were paid.

I can only presume the tenants references were fake.

We had one nearby - perfect neighbours as noone actually lived there it seems just sent a monkey in to do the watering, no noise, no screaming kiddies, no wild parties, very low profile..... first we knew was when the entire area leccy got turned off to undo the rerouting of the mains supply (didn't want the high usage drawing attention or the bills :rotfl:) House had to be gutted but replacement tenants a single mum with 3 rabid chav-spawn... personally I liked the greener tenants....

paintpot

tbs624 wrote: »

All those greedy LLs who like to insist on rent upfront should be especially careful- apparently those who grow "waccy baccy" or manufacture other illict substances often volunteer to pay a lump sum in advance to cover the full tenancy

That is very true. One of the landlords I knew of whose house was turned into a cannabis factory (and it was just down the road from where I live) had taken rent up front. The tenants always refused inspections aswell which was another clear sign. My electrician dealt with that one.

So, whilst I have taken rent up front for specific reasons but not as a rule, anyone who pushes it in my face from the outset always arouses my suspician.