DP's sister rents out a small terraced house in an older area of town. Many of the homes there are neglected now, but up until only 6 or 7 years ago it was a lovely, quiet place. She has a long term tenant who is quite comfortable so no issues there.
The house has recently had new windows installed, doors and the back space remodelled recently, which DP helped out with, and whilst there we noticed that a good amount of the surrounding properties had been sold to landlords offering HMO's (houses of multiple occupation).
Most are in an awful state, with over 6-8 tenants in what were once two-up-two-down SMALL terraces. Bedrooms have been halved and probably now afford each tenant 5x10 ft of space. You can tell when this happens as a new, tiny window around 2ft sq will appear next to the existing window. Most have key safes jammed to the the front walls haphazardly, often up to 8 at a time. The yards are tiny and heaving with rubbish and disused furniture.
What saddened me was a few doors down from DP's sister's property there are a group of men living in dreadful conditions. We have met them several times and they are decent, hardworking people. Their rooms have one single bed and a small cupboard, no carpets or flooring, and no window coverings. For some time a resident was sleeping in a blanket in the floor with no bed at all.
I have no idea how these things are legal, most are overcrowded and as far as I knew, council's had stopped granting permissions for these small dwellings housing so many a few years ago. I presume they have decided to roll back on that :(
Is this common now? The streets around the area are becoming dirtier and filled with litter. No one is maintaining the surrounding infrastructure and council owned pathways and areas are overgrown and dangerous in parts. There is a canal running along the edge of the area, the gates having been smashed off and left there for over a year. Those who do try to get things done are left waiting.
These could be lovely homes otherwise, but there is definitely a sort of vulture-culture taking over, with no thought for people's wellbeing. Local rents are not low, either.