Erstwhile tenants leave bizarre parting gifts
Tuesday, 19 February 2008 12:00 AM
Landlords have revealed the strange items left behind by tenants when vacating rented properties.
While many would expect bags of rubbish to be the top departing gift from erstwhile residents, the truth is far less mundane.
Sex toys - or shall we say marital aids? - were the most common item left in a property by departing tenants - seemingly unconcerned with sharing their habits with the world.
Other extraordinary items include a glass eye, pairs of false teeth, illegal immigrants, Nazi memorabilia, bed bugs, a pair of fake breasts and bomb-making equipment with a large quantity of fertiliser.
Most incredibly off all, one landlord was left a bottle of blood as a parting present from tenants.
The findings come after research from the Deposit Protection Service (TDS) - the government approved scheme set up to protect tenants' deposits - questioned over 1,000 landlords about what surprises they had found.
"The most extraordinary response we had was from a landlord who found a false eye. The landlord threw it away thinking it was a joke, only to have the tenant phone asking if it had been found," said Kevin Firth, client services director at the DPS.
"Three landlords even told us they found a dead body on their properties, while another found an urn containing ashes and then received a call from the tenant asking for her husband back."
On a slightly more erotic note, landlords have discovered pornographic videos, blow-up dolls, condoms, ladies underwear, a 'knicker tree' of female conquests and handcuffs chained to a wall.
"It makes you wonder if Britons are just incredibly forgetful, or whether they are really exhibitionists who want all this stuff to be found?" said Mr Firth.
"Animals - both dead and alive - were commonly abandoned by outgoing tenants: cats, rats, hedgehogs, rabbits, turtles and goldfish were regularly mentioned.
"One landlord even told us they received a welcoming present from their outgoing tenants - a kipper in an airing cupboard," he added.
The ten most popular leave-behinds
1. Sex toys
2. Rubbish
3. Rotting food - cooked and raw
4. Furniture / Domestic appliances
5. Cats
6. Condoms
7. Cannabis plants
8. Dirty nappies
9. Dead animals
10. Pornographic videos
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- uk property news
