To think this might not be legal ?

[CheesysNo1]

Need some advice.

I own a flat in a block of 6, last year my elderly neighbour died below me and the flat was sold and Iv noticed a lot of women coming In and out every week with suitcases and me and my other neighbours have been a little confused.

Well recently it’s all went down hill the close is full of rubbish and they are not taking their weekly turn of sweeping and mopping the stairs and three days ago a very aggressive man kicked in the common door to the building and he was shouting and screaming into the letter box, I never noticed the door was broken until later on when I felt safe to leave the house. Now the last two days all Iv heard is shouting and banging from down stairs...male and female voices.

Today I went down to tell them to keep it down and if I could get the landlords number and the women said there is no landlord this is a women’s shelter and gave me the website.

This is what it said... A charity to help women with accomodation needs edited by MNHQ for privacy reasons

Iv phoned and left a message but there was only a mobile number no office number and no one has got back to me.

I was just looking for some advice on what to do or if this is legal ? Should I just suck it up and deal with it ? Obviously I have a lot of compassion for these women but on the other hand I’m pregnant with my first child and I’m a little scared walking down the stairs and worried about if anymore trouble will be brought the to building.

Thanks.

Yeah if anything it’s just got a bit weirder now. She just kept saying “I pay council tax” i said yeah so do I but my concern is random people coming in and out the close every week and the noise of shouting from below

She just keep going back and forth and getting a little muddled in what she was saying ....

I never thought about human trafficking ! Oh my! There was actually a bust in my town a few months ago and they found two women in a flat being forced to grow cannabis. Jesus.

This all sounds highly suspicious. I would phone your local council tomorrow morning and enquire about a change of use / any permissions granted. It would be from the council area the property is in.

So I’m not sure if I’m just being thick here but I live in Scotland and I’m not sure how and if the freehold/lease hold thing works here.

Iv just checked my deeds and it says absolute ownership ? My block of flats is ex-council that we’re all bought years ago bar one who is still council. Think tenement style.

Make sure you speak to both the police and council before agreeing to a meeting with anyone supposedly from this 'charity' and if you do end up having having a meeting with them then make sure you aren't there alone, arrange the meeting with all of the tenants. Your safety is the priority right now.

I’m nit a lawyer but I think that means you all own your own freeholds

Best thing to do is report to police and council and say you have concerns about what might be taking place there.

Please please do not meet the owner without involving other parties.

Also there are clearly common parts, so if they are jointly owned, everyone has a concern here.

CheesysNo1 I think Absolute ownership means the equivalent of you’ve got the Freehold. This may require some sort of legal advice (try CAB?) Check all the paperwork from your house sale - there may be something in there about any process you need to go through or your liability if the place needs a new roof, for example? That might give you a contact? Plus if there’s someone still Council provides maybe they can get some sort of action that way? (Grasping at straws a bit...)

OP, you are NBU. I would be very unhappy about the flat being used for purposes that cause so much aggression and disruption. The woman you spoke sounds strange and didhonest. Do follow this up with the council and the Charity Commission - not all charities are genuine.

I phoned the police and made them aware of the sex trafficking concerns and dv just incase. I forgot to mention this yesterday but they did put frosted glass sticker stuff on all the windows when it was bought and that was my first thing that I was puzzled at because Why wouldn’t they want to see out. Also I have emailed the council about the HMO license. Thank you all for your advice.

Good that you’ve phoned the police

I wouldn’t normally worry about frosted glass etc but this is completely different as there’s so many oddities going on.

Good that you’ve raised a concern OP. My feeling on this sort of thing is it sounds sketchy enough to warrant further investigation. You can’t be expected to have the training or experience to judge whether it’s worth taking further, so you have quite sensible handed it over to people who are qualified to make that decision.

This sounds like the cover for a brothel, definitely contact the police.

This sounds like the cover for a brothel, definitely contact the police.

This sounds like the cover for a brothel, definitely contact the police.

Fucking phone.....