Susie's story

Susie was heavily pregnant when she moved into a rented property in Newcastle.

When she viewed the flat none of the lights were working, but the landlord said he would get them fixed. Because she was desperate for a place to live she agreed to take it.

Soon after Susie moved in the kitchen window fell out of its frame, narrowly missing her - the wood was rotten through.

Susie reported the accident to the landlord and he accused her of breaking the window. He followed up with a constant flurry of harassment and abuse; threatening Susie and her guarantor and sending people round to the flat to intimidate her.

Then he served her an immediate eviction notice, and tried to charge her £600 for each day she stayed in the property. Frightened and worried sick, Susie went to court, where the judge ruled the eviction notice was illegal and kicked the case out.

But the landlord managed to get a legal section 21 notice and evicted her anyway.

Priya's story

Priya and Colin moved into a rented flat in Macclesfield three years ago with their six-month-old son.

Priya said: ‘It was the first place I had ever rented so we were careful to choose somewhere that we felt we could really make our home. The property had been recently redecorated and painted so we were really pleased with it’.

But soon after the family moved in, damp and mould appeared. It spread quickly, covering the walls and affecting books, clothes and even baby Paul’s cot mattress.

Priya and Colin tried to prevent the damp by keeping the windows permanently open and they bought an expensive dehumidifier. The landlord inspected the flat but refused to fix the problem.

The whole family were miserable and ill, and Priya and Colin decided to hand in their notice. That’s when they starting received abusive phone calls from their landlord. Then they discovered she hadn’t protected their deposit, and she refused to return it, charging them exorbitant cleaning costs.

Priya said: ‘It was really frustrating - I just wanted the experience to end so I took the small deposit amount back. Then we had to find extra money for a deposit on another flat. It was a horrible experience.’

Sam's story

Sam rented a property in London from a private landlord on a three-month contract. As soon as he signed the tenancy agreement, the landlord issued a notice of possession.

Late one evening a month before his agreement was due to end, Sam returned home and found all the locks had been changed. He tried to phone the landlord repeatedly but there was no answer. Sam was forced to stay with friends that night.

Sam reported his landlord to the local council which took out a criminal prosecution against him. Eventually Sam’s landlord was convicted of illegal eviction, but it took several months for Sam to get his possessions and deposit back.