Landlord faces nightmare clean as £40k rent unpaid
Nevena Khediri says she is owed over £40,000 in unpaid rent from the tenant who left the home in an "indescribable" state
- Published
A landlord owed over £40,000 in unpaid rent from a tenant who left piles of rubbish all over her property says the experience has been a "nightmare".
Single mother-of-two Nevena Khediri decided to rent out her family home in Camberley after her marriage broke down.
The tenant who the BBC is not naming, eventually left the property in an "indescribable" state, Ms Khediri said.
"The drawers of the kitchen can actually be pulled out so more stuff can be piled on top. There's bread, and some sort of rotting cheese. The fridge has cobwebs."
The tenant moved into the five-bedroom property in September 2023 and was only recently evicted after a "tremendously slow and long winded" legal process, Ms Khediri said.
Ms Khediri and her family had lived in the home for about 15 years before she rented it out
Huge piles of rubbish were left both inside and outside the property.
Ms Khediri, who said she was not a "multi-property" landlord, first started encountering issues with the tenant in March 2024.
The problems started to escalated a few months later.
She said: "She stopped paying [rent] in October 2024.
"She said she was having trouble, and then she just stopped [paying], and ignored any communication."
Ms Khediri decided to rent out her family home property in Camberley after her marriage broke down
Over the coming months Ms Khediri initiated proceedings to evict the tenant.
This process involved multiple court hearings, with Ms Khediri eventually having to apply for bailiffs.
During this period the tenant was accepted to the government's Breathing Space scheme, which gives those in debt temporary protection for up to 60 days to get their finances in order.
Ms Khediri said: "We couldn't communicate with her at all during those two months.
"You can imagine, it was probably the longest two months there is."
The tenant, initially told to move out in January 2025, only vacated the property last month.
Ms Khediri says issues with the tenant escalated in October 2024 when she stopped paying rent
Ms Khediri has experienced a mixture of emotions.
"I'm relieved that I can finally walk into my house, but absolutely saddened," she said.
"It put enormous stress on me, it put enormous stress on me providing for my children."
The mum-of-two has enlisted friends to help her clear out the property to save money, having been left further out of pocket due to various legal fees.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: "We're strengthening landlords' rights alongside taking the biggest leap forward in renters' rights in a generation.
"Our reforms allow landlords to make a possession claim to the court immediately in cases of anti-social behaviour– making it quicker to evict tenants damaging properties and disrupting neighbourhoods.
"Landlords will also be able to evict a tenant if they have more than three months' arrears at the time of a court hearing."
Follow BBC Surrey on Facebook, external, on X, external. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk , external or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.
- Published19 October
- Published12 September
