An accountant who was stuck in a one-year contract at a moth-infested house, has used her experience to help others find the right home for themselves. Payal Bhavnani, 46, launched her free-to-use website AskTenants, to help people make well-informed decisions before signing rental contracts.
The woman and her family was bound by a one-year contract in East Sheen- a place that turned out to be the stuff nightmares were made of. "The place erupted into a moth hive with hundreds of them flying everywhere. Freya stopped sleeping in her room, she used to scream and come out of her room on seeing moths. It was an absolute nightmare and even put pressure on our relationship," Bhavnani said. She informed that the damp was so "bad we couldn't keep clothes dry inside the wardrobes. There was severe condensation and mould everywhere."
Her website meanwhile, allows people looking to rent a place, to rate their accomodation and landlord responsiveness. "There are so many checks which tenants have to undergo and pay for via estate agents, whilst knowing nothing about the landlord. I decided to take the level of information provided one step further and provide police information and other social data to the website, allowing people to get a really complete picture of not just the property, but the surrounding area."
Bhavnani added that the website would "encourage landlords to up their game or risk receiving a low score."
