A couple said they were left “devastated” after tenants turned their rented Norfolk home into a drug factory and caused £30,000 worth of damage.
James Reid, 68, and his wife Susan, 65, said when they regained access to their let house in April 2024 walls had been knocked down and large holes had been drilled into the floor to install equipment to grow cannabis.
The couple wanted to warn others of the risks of rental properties being used as sites to cultivate cannabis, which the National Residential Landlords Association said was a “growing problem”.
“It’s lucky [the house] didn’t burn down because [the tenants] bypassed the electricity,” Mr Reid added.
Mr Reid, a retired printer, moved into the 1970s three-bed detached house in Haddiscoe, Norfolk, with his wife, an NHS administrator, in 2018.
Five years later the pair decided to move into their daughter’s house near Saffron Walden, Essex, and rent out their home in June 2023, hoping the income would add to their pension.
After months of late and missed rental payments from the tenants, the couple took back the property and found it had been raided by the police and left damaged.
Norfolk Police said no drugs were found at the house but equipment relating to the production of cannabis was present.
Mr Reid said the damage was “horrendous” and when he saw that holes had been cut into the walls he said the couple felt “devastated”.
The Reids were first-time landlords and had used Howards Estate and Letting Agents, a firm based across Norfolk and north Suffolk, to find them a tenant and manage renting the home out.
The agents found a company that wanted to rent the couple’s home and used a organisation called HomeLet to provide company reference reports.
Mr Reid said it was his decision to proceed with the tenancy.
After a number of missed rental payments, Mr Reid said he contacted Howards Estate and Letting Agents to ask for an inspection of the property to be carried out.
Howards made several attempts to arrange property visits during the tenancy the spokesperson said but these were repeatedly refused by the tenant.
“As we cannot legally enter a property without consent, the ombudsman confirmed our conduct in this regard was appropriate,” it said.
Mr Reid said he still felt “let down” by the the letting agency.
He complained to the Property Ombudsman about the company.
It ordered Howards to pay him £300 in compensation after ruling communication could have been clearer regarding the tenant referencing, which was undertaken by a third party, and causing inconvenience when a contractor lost the property keys.
The National Residential Landlords Association have told members about the importance of tenant referencing to avoid homes being used as drug factories.
Meera Chindooroy, the association’s deputy director for campaigns, said rental properties being used as cannabis factories was a “growing problem”.
“This can be a really expensive risk for landlords if they are not on top of the potential red flags and are not doing regular property inspections,” she said.
Two people were arrested on suspicion of cultivation of cannabis in connection to the Reids’ home, but the case was closed following a Crown Prosecution Service decision that the case did not meet evidential threshold required, Norfolk Police said.
A force spokesperson added officers would encourage anyone who has concerns that criminal activity is occurring in their property to report it.
A spokesperson for Howards Estate and Letting Agents said its role was to act as an “intermediary” between the tenant and the landlord and ultimately it was the landlord’s decision to go ahead with the agreement.
“We accept our communication with the landlord could have been clearer” regarding checks carried out on the company that rented the home, it said.
HomeLet said: “A referencing check completed by HomeLet offers recommendations to assist the letting agent and/or the landlord of the property.
“HomeLet does not decide who can or cannot rent a property, and is not involved in the final outcome.”
