Wanton vandalism of house on Grimsby's Nunsthorpe estate empty for only 24hrs
THE damage caused by vandals to a Nunsthorpe house is the worst local estate agent Harp Chatha has ever seen.
But Mr Chatha, who lets properties across North East Lincolnshire, insists that the estate is no worse than in many other towns and cities across the country.
Mr Chatha, the owner of Aston Estates, told the Grimsby Telegraph about the "carnage" caused to the house on Winthorpe Road, which was targeted within 24 hours of the occupants leaving.
He spoke out after watching the recent ITV documentary Exposure: Driven From Home, about life on the Nunsthorpe estate. As reported, it caused a mixed reaction among residents, community figureheads and politicians.
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Speaking about the damage, Mr Chatha said: "The wall between the bedroom and bathroom had been knocked out, the windows had been shattered and all the pipework and electricals had gone.
"The damage that has been done has not been done to steal. It's been done randomly just to cause carnage.
"In my experience this is the most damage I've seen to any property throughout my career."
But he added: "It's not just the Nunsthorpe. This happens in every city and town round the country."
As reported in yesterday's Grimsby Telegraph, a fire sparked by arsonists gutted another house, at the junction of Winthorpe Road and Redbourne Road.
Residents said more should be done by the authorities to prevent privately-owned homes from falling into disrepair.
Meanwhile, Mr Chatha claimed undercover reporters who lived on the Nunsthorpe Estate while filming the ITV documentary left without paying the full terms of their tenancy agreement.
He told the Grimsby Telegraph that he let a property on Milton Road to a Tom Randall and a Claire Adams on a six-month contract. He claimed the pair "fed him a lie" about moving from London to get away from Claire's ex-partner, and then vacated the house after paying rent for just the first three months.
Mr Chatha said: "These people go on TV preaching about crime and anti-social behaviour and yet they have breached a six-month tenancy agreement."
Mr Chatha said that although he had suspicions about the pair, who insisted on a property in Nunsthorpe, he finally discovered their true identity after being tipped off by locals on the estate, who told him about them secretly filming inside the Nunsthorpe Tavern.
But by that time the pair – whose names appeared on the closing credits of the programme – had disappeared, and the phone numbers they provided to Aston Estates turned out to be false.
Mr Chatha said: "We are now having to chase ITV to recoup the three months' rent that the landlord is entitled to. It was all a bit sneaky and underhand."
A spokesman for ITV said: "The reporters are clear that they honoured the agreement they had with the agency regarding their rent."
Comments
by undercover123
Sunday, October 28 2012, 12:35PM
“mr ****a should have stuck to driving buses calls himself an estate agent anyone using aston estates need to wake up hes robbing u,hes not fit to run billy smarts circus never mind a letting agents shame on the councill for paying this crook.”
by xStevex
Wednesday, October 24 2012, 9:30PM
“Aston Estates has loads and loads of houses around the Rutland Street area. Maybe some good ones but definately some properties nothing short of derelict. The telegraph should maybe take a drive down Rutland Street one day and see for themselves.
Gawd help any investors who use this company to let houses out on their behalf. Surely any house on the Nunsthorpe with an Aston Estate sign will be a target of vigilantes.”
by MatQuinn
Wednesday, October 24 2012, 7:51PM
“Chatha? Surely chancer! His name is well known.”
by davidmantle
Wednesday, October 24 2012, 5:31PM
“Surprised it took 24 hours , in the old days it would have been quicker.”
by GY1765
Wednesday, October 24 2012, 5:19PM
“maybe the ITV undercover reporters are also doing an expose on the Landlord as well, if not, they shoud be, could be very interesting!”
by will_v
Wednesday, October 24 2012, 5:17PM
“Mr Chatha from Aston Estates clearly did not verify the identity of the tenants. I am sure his landlords will be interested to realise how casual he is when putting tenants in properties.
The Evening Telegraph should also perhaps check on up on Mr Chatha and his activities by speaking to the council or any reputable person in the property business who knows how Mr Chatha runs his business.”
by Hedgewood
Wednesday, October 24 2012, 4:39PM
“As soon as I acquired the keys to 2 derelict houses in Nunsthorpe I had the entrance hole that had been smashed through the toilet roof & windows fixed, I had burglar alarms fitted, & I posted a letter to every house in the street with my phone number, asking people to call me if they went off, 2 years later, had no problems at all”
by twittowoo
Wednesday, October 24 2012, 4:31PM
“Has he not checked his houses on the east marsh?? he should have a drive down Rutland Street and look at his properties they look worse than this and people are living in them. He was supposed to be going to make the area better but rents the houses to anyone. It is his tenants causing problems for the good people of the east marsh. Well the few that own their own homes that are left. Another case of jumping on the look how bad nunsthorpe is wagon. this man will do anything for a bit of press”
by Beagleyes
Wednesday, October 24 2012, 3:54PM
“Is this is the second time in as many days that mr chatra has featured in the telegraph ?
First we had a story of this chap wanting to open an office in Immingham to allow him to
Rent more properties out and then this story about the damage done to his property
Now we learn this was the chap who rented accommodation to the tv reporters
Umm some intresting observations
Did mr chatra not take a full deposit from this so called couple or even taken up full references before allowing these people to move in
Granted references can be made up but at a guess I suspect that once word went around the estate that this was the chap who let his accommodation to the tv people a form of rough
Justice ( quiet wrongly ) was administered hence what we see in today's paper
Mr Chatra you took the devils shilling without doing the proper checks and have now been caught out by your actions and everyone who has read the paper now know who you have dealt with
I have to ask the question are private landlords such as Mr Chatra one of the causes of the problems of the behaviour on the estate as it would appear all that they ( the land lord) are intrested in is filling their properties to earn money with little or no consideration to social issues that might occur from tennants”
by The0racle
Wednesday, October 24 2012, 3:03PM
“I've seen worse things done by Changing rooms.”