A barrel of human poo in the back garden of sister's rented house.

[AvengingAngel]

My sister has been in a rented house for nearly two years and the last tenants left a barrel of human poo in the back garden. This is not a joke. Despite numerous attempts to get the Estate Agents to move it, it has not happened, even though promises have been made. I know she dearly wants to stay in the house, but come on! Any advice? Please??

I'm surprised they haven't all been ill TBH. Although, saying that, she does quite often get infections and stuff.... I've only just put the two together!

@avenging if this is true your sister really needs to man up. It's been there for two years so she has obvously decided against removing it herself. She doesn't want to go down the legal route despite people here pointing out that she won't be evicted if she does. You haven't responded to suggestions of environemental health.

Just sort it out.

If your sister has an assured tenancy agreement she can enforce her rights rights, for instance, to get repairs done without worrying about getting evicted. There isnt' a judge in the land that won't back her if she gets evicted for requesting this barrel to be removed. And if she is unlawfully evicted she will be able to claim compensation.

Get on to the Daily Fail. They'd LOVE to print this.

Hi ethelb. A bit aggressive don't you think? I have just said my sister is going to ring EH again after seeing the links provided here. It is bloody true. I wish it wasn't!

She has a shorthold assured tenancy agreement. Yes, I agree headfairy. I totally agree. However, getting my sister to agree is a different matter. She's 21 and well, I was a pushover too at that age.

Avenging, does your sister have dcs? If so they will be incredibly vulnerable to infections and stomach problems. She must get this resolved now. Don't wait. She definitely has the law on her side. If she feels she needs some support get her to go to a CAB as they are very good at advising on tenants rights. When she wins her case the Landlord will have to pay her legal fees too, so whilst it might be hard to find the cash upfront, there's every chance she'll get them back.

Gosh, yes 21 is quite young to be taking all this on. Then she definitely needs to get to a CAB, they'll help guide her through the process.

Are you sure it's just poo in there?

Two years is a long time for it to still be stinking...

Tell her to put it in a short letter and send it recorded delivery to the company secretary at the registered address of the agent (it will be on their letterheading and contracts) and also to the landlord (the agent is not allowed to conceal the landlord's name and address).

If it is not in writing then, when the shit hits the fan, they might pretend they didn't know.

Avenging, get her to read this thread. She'll soon realise that actually she's the one with rights to enforce.

Ok, my sister is reading through this thread and will contact EH on the back of it. If they still say no, then we will take the next step. I'll let you know what happens.

If the barrel broke and contaminated the surrounding area I'm sure EH would be interested?

... just thinking out loud.

AmazingBouncingFerret - who knows? It could be poo and anything else toxic. No DC thank god in the house. Just three young people in their early twenties.

Oh yes, PigletJohn is right. Everything must be in writing. Don't even bother wtih emails. Send letters and keep copies of everything you send. Again, the CAB will advise on all of this. She doesn't have to do it alone.

She can take this as a very steep learning curve on what landlords obligations are. Maybe she won't be so easily put off next time. The law is there to protect her.

Or if the barrel found itself moved onto the pavement, EH might be interested?

A wooden barrel of human poo? How the hell did they fill it up? With a shovel or did they actually go outside and sit on it everytime they wanted a poo? That is just disgusting! There must be human wee in it too then. Yuck.

Yes, indeed.

Such things happen.

Regardless of whether there are children present, it's still a risk to human health.

Can she start collating some paperwork together, previous correspondences etc? Even if it's print outs of emails she's sent.

Thanks Emilie. Very helpful.

Emilie - nice . Did you read the thread?

Don't attempt to move the barrel. The risk of it collapsing and the contents making everyone very ill are very high.

She'll have a much better case if she does it all above board, and doesn't try anything underhand to speed things up. If she's lived with it for 2 years then a couple more months while it's sorted properly won't matter surely?

Doesn't poo just dry up and become crusty after 2 years? Maybe everytime it dries up, the rain causes it to become...pooey again? Honestly OP, why has she waited 2 years? Very lazy.

What would happen if the adjacent neighbours phoned EH expresing their worry about their gardens being contaminated?

In all seriousness, the risk of parasites would really bother me so I'd be hounding EH with everything I could muster.