Published by: Mel McMultan
There has been a huge increase in tenants subletting the properties they are renting through out London recently. Having spoken with other agents and clients London seems to being hit by professional fraudsters. These groups or individuals take on properties on assured short hold tenancys’’ and then sublet the properties out to unsuspecting ‘tenants’ who believe them to be the landlord. Usually the properties are overcrowded, the utility bills are not paid and no insurance is in place to cover the building or those residing in it. Now this is not a new phenomenon, but the level of sophistication that these unscrupulous persons are employing with their own websites showing where the properties are and pictures that have been down loaded from legitimate agents’ websites is staggering. Unfortunately one landlord that contacted us for advice after the event said that when he reported his story to the police they were not very interested in tracking down the scammers. So please be aware of the potential risk and use an agent like us at
Willmotts that are wise to the issue and undertake stringent checks on the backgrounds of potential tenants.