Over 50 people protested today outside Liv n Let property agency on Mina road in St Werburghs. The demonstration organised by ACORN Bristol community union called on Del Brown, owner of the agency, to repair three properties on Chaplin and Villiers roads in Easton and to cease from carrying out a “revenge eviction” on one of the tenants.
As we reported yesterday, Del Brown is a Bristol born and bred multi-millionaire who authored “Making Money From Property: Bristol Fashion”, owns over a hundred properties and has claimed to be worth up to £40 Million.
Hawa Ahemed, a tenant of one of Liv n Let’s Easton properties, spoke to The Bristol Cable: “I told them about water coming through the roof but they said it wasn’t the reason for the damp and they couldn’t fix it. A year later water came through my ceiling. This has been going on for two years […] we don’t use two of the bedrooms because of the damp, so we have to use the living room.”
Another tenant, Basra Mire, added: “it has affected my son, he fell down a hole in the living room and fractured his foot” she continued, “they have been bullying me, saying that they will throw me out of the house if I make complaints […] but ACORN have been helping me a lot.”
Nasra Ahmed, rents a third property from Liv n Let, she said: “I am a working mum and I have never paid late rent […] but my house is damp, it is not a healthy house […] my children have asthma and I have to go to the GP for an inhaler. Every time I ask for repairs to be done my landlord refuses.”
See photos of their houses here.
Liv n Let was not available for comment because their premises were closed, presumably because of the protest.
Nick Ballard, from ACORN, said: “The message to all rogue landlords is loud and clear: the abuse and exploitation of tenants will not be tolerated. ACORN will target you and your business interests and we will not give up. This is not going away, nor will it fizzle out. We’re just getting started.”
The Bristol Cable is committed to exposing the truth about the housing situation in Bristol. We have already covered previous threats of eviction here, here and here and the campaign for an ethical lettings charter. We have also uncovered: Bristol’s empty properties, how developers avoid building affordable or social housing, how the increasing cost of housing has led to more repossessions, the increase in luxury student accommodation and housing struggles in London.
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Same buggers that offered me a room the size of a Matchbox that someone hadnt even moved out of yet for full housing benefit then left me waiting homeless for three weeks. Not much better than the w*nkers that rented me my last flat. The one where water was coming out of the electric sockets the 1st night I was there. Got that via a City Council Scheme..
Mike, it would be really helpful if you could pass on details of these properties to us. We’re mapping as many of the crappy properties as possible so we can work out who owns what so we can target our campaign as effectively as possible. If you’re up for it, drop me an email at nick.ballard@acorncommunities.org.uk I’ll treat it all with strict confidence. Cheers!