More private renters in West Yorkshire thought to be 'living in despair'
It's over issues like mould and damp according to a new study
It's thought many private renters across West Yorkshire are 'living in fear' - as some feel 'too frightened' to complain about things like damp inside where they're living.
A new study from Shelter suggests tenants who complain are more than twice as likely to be given an eviction notice - compared to those who say nothing.
We spoke to Chelsea Phillips who's from Acorn, a tenants' union in Leeds. She says something needs to change:
"We are contacted by people daily who are raising issues with the state of their homes, with damp, mould, things that are broken or unsafe.
"When they raise these concerns they're coming back with higher rent or being served 'no-fault' evictions as revenge by these landlords.
"Everybody deserves a safe and affordable home and at the moment this is not the case.
"We know that 1 in 4 families are living in fear of eviction, we know that housing standards are not acceptable and that eviction cases have more than doubled in the last 3 years."
Due to the lack of regulation in private renting, millions of tenants across the country are trapped in a ‘catch-22’ situation whereby they either put up with poor conditions, or risk being kicked out for complaining.
Shockingly, a quarter of private renters (25%) – just over 2 million people - have not asked their landlord for repairs to be carried out or conditions improved for fear of being evicted.
Meanwhile, private renters who complained to their landlord, letting agent or local council in the last three years were two and a half times (159%) more likely to be handed an eviction notice than those who had not complained - according to the new research from Shelter.