Tenants renting houses and flats in Jesmond say they hope contentious proposals by Newcastle City Council will prevent landlords from letting out dirty, damaged and dangerous properties.

JesmondLocal sought the opinion and experiences of Jesmond residents on selective licensing plans which the council’s deputy leader Joyce McCarty says will tackle “rogue landlords”. Council leaders discussed this month extending the initiative into other parts of the city, including Jesmond, following a rise in tenant complaints. The National Landlords Association has criticised the initiative, claiming it will lead to rent rises, but tenants have responded more positively to the idea, saying change is needed.

Hilly Hannam told JesmondLocal about the uninhabitable conditions of a house-share she rented in Jesmond as a student. Problems arose as soon as the deposit was paid, leaving the students both out of pocket and out of home. The property had been left dirty and damaged by previous tenants, but the problems did not end there.

The presence of rats, said Hannam, forced them out of the flat. However, more serious damage included a carbon monoxide leak in the property above, and a leak from the ceiling when it rained, allowing water to drip onto electrics. “We rang the emergency line,” said Hannam, “but we just got laughed at and told by the landlord’s contractor that they didn’t work in the rain. The leak was never fixed.”

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Emily Crookes also had an issue with rats in her shared flat, with the letting agency refusing to resolve the issue after its contractor said there was no sign of an infestation. Crookes searched the contractor online and discovered the company hired by the landlord had gone into administration multiple times and had received bad reviews online.

An externally sourced handyman, nicknamed “Ron the Rat Catcher” by tenants, became concerned when he heard about the rats in the property, stating “I wouldn’t want my daughter living in these conditions.” Crookes said she and her housemates only decided to stay on in the property because of the good location, and the landlord waived admin fees to renew the tenancy.

For Hannam, however, the problems became worse after the rats in her flat were poisoned, with the letting agency taking weeks to remove the poison from the property along with the rats, which had died under the floorboards.

“The smell was awful,” Hannam said. “Then maggots started coming up through the carpets. We couldn’t live there anymore, we didn’t feel safe.” When they returned to clean the property, it was infested with flies. Despite making the landlord aware, Hannam and her flat-mates were refused their deposit and charged for items they had already reported as broken.

Hannam took to social media to express her concerns, as have others who feel they are getting insufficient help from landlords and their agents. “They just didn’t care,” said Crookes about dealings with her landlord.

Some of the letting agents have now disabled online review facilities, due to the large number of negative comments. However a search of tenant forums reveals similar stories of vermin infestations, serious damage and out of date fire alarms. Some tenants even claim landlords offered them wine if they would remove negative posts.

The tenants who spoke with JesmondLocal said they hoped the extension of council licensing would encourage landlords to refrain from letting out unfit properties and communicate more responsibly with their tenants.