MEMBERS of a Cleethorpes residents' group say a solution is needed to what they are calling the "big problem" of tenants who are not taking care of their properties.
Vice chair of the Beacon Hill Connect residents' association, Cleethorpes resident Gary Griffin, claims that innocent neighbours are being forced out of their homes due to "no fault of their own".
The group will hold a special meeting next month to address the issue.
He said: "At meetings of the Beacon Hill Connect residents' association over recent months, we have had on the agenda issues raised about people coming to live in our area who, for whatever reason, have no interest in their property's maintenance, upkeep, or looks.
"This has caused, through no fault of their own, neighbours of these people finding themselves faced with a choice of putting up with these people or moving out. And on at least one occasion, a home that was loved by a family has been put on the market.
"I don't believe that this stark choice should be the only option available to folk who, prior to a lazy or uncaring neighbour moving in, love and cherish the home they have invested in and who look after their properties as you would expect they should, only to have all they have achieved almost negated by slovenly people moving in next door."
Mr Griffin said that tenant and landlord rules need to be made clearer, to eliminate the "all too common conflict" that arises from that ambiguity.
He also argues that something needs to be done to ensure that "rogue people" are not forced onto unsuspecting and decent folk.
He added: "I have asked the opinions of social landlords, councillors, and organisations such as the National Landlords Association, and conclude from what I have heard and what I have subsequently seen, that this is a big problem.
"In all debates regarding landlords and tenants, such as revenge evictions, more power for tenants, absent landlords, and protection for landlords, the one thing that is always missing is the effects on neighbours of these tenants and landlords, and the effects on the local communities.
"It is time now to address this omission from the debate. It is time to review, amend, improve and standardise landlord and tenant responsibilities.
"To that end, and because this will only happen if the law is changed, I have asked our local MP Martin Vickers to attend a special meeting of the Beacon Hill Connect group to discuss this and bring it to the public arena with a view to finding a credible and much needed solution if it is within our power to do so, and I believe it is."
The meeting will be held at the Solomon Court Meeting rooms, Solomon Court (off Warwick Road), in Cleethorpes, at 7pm on February 17.
