'We left after bedbugs crawled up our pillows'

A tenant who moved into a £1,750-a-month furnished rental flat to find it infested with bedbugs has told the BBC they feel as though renters are treated like "scum".

Freazy Warr first contacted the BBC when they and friends fell victim to a rental scam last summer at a completely unconnected property, where they lost more than £7k between them.

Months later, the couple feel "taken advantage of", by finding themselves with another rental "nightmare".

Stirling Ackroyd, property managers of their latest property, which is in Stepney in east London, apologised and said bedbug treatment had been completed. They added: "We would never knowingly allow a tenancy to start where bedbugs had been found."

Warr, who explained that the couple only moved in last Saturday, said: "We brought all our boxes in, we started unpacking, it was quite late so we thought, 'OK, let's just get the bedsheets on, go to bed.'

"Sunday morning, we wake up and there are just bedbugs everywhere. I squish one, there's blood coming out of it," Warr said.

"They were crawling up the bed and on to our pillows," Warr explained, adding: "I wanted to tear my own skin off.

"Not just that, but the fact that this was meant to be the start of something fresh, new. It's a nice place. It's a really nice place. And so to suddenly have to deal with this problem, was awful."

Warr said they immediately left the property and moved into a hotel.

They then alerted the property managers, who in turn had to reach the landlord who was abroad.

Once the landlord had approved the next steps, treatment was "prompt", said property managers Stirling Ackroyd.

Warr said it was not until after the infestation had been discovered that the couple rechecked their original inventory photos provided before moving in, and could see evidence of bedbug faeces on furniture, which they had not initially spotted.

This, they say, is evidence that the bedbugs were present when they moved in.

Stirling Ackroyd added: "We are continuing to work with the tenant and landlord to resolve the remaining practical matters.

"The landlord has already agreed to cover hotel accommodation for the period immediately following the report and is considering further requests from the tenant."

Niall Gallagher, technical and compliance manager at the British Pest Control Association, said: "Bedbugs are on the rise, we are noticing year-on-year rises.

"There was a period of time where we didn't see bedbugs at all, so certainly we are seeing them more and more."

He advised tenants moving into furnished properties to check them thoroughly.

"Looking at the mattress is really important," he said. "You can lift the mattress up; you can check around the roping, maybe around the buttons. And once you check the mattress, you know, you can then also look at the bedframe itself.

He added that if it was a low-level infestation, "it can be really hard to detect".

Blago Manov, managing director of Bed Bug Hunters and Prime Pest Control, told the BBC that although bedbugs were "one of the worst nuisance pests", the situation with Warr and their partner was not unique.

"My first year in the UK, I was literally running away from bedbugs myself. I was moving into already infested properties myself," Manov said, adding: "It was a nightmare."

It was enough of a nightmare for him to set up his own company.

"Obviously, the landlord should take care of the costs associated with this", Manov advised.

He explained that, through examination, professional companies could determine how long an infestation has been present, which could help resolve disputes between tenants and landlords.

Warr, who works overnight, has had to take time off to deal with the infestation and temporary accommodation.

They said this second experience with a "problem" flat had destroyed their trust in the London rental market, and again left them in "limbo".

"It doesn't seem to me that it matters whether someone is legitimate or illegitimate, whether someone's a real landlord or a fake one. They just want your money, and they're happy to treat you like scum," Warr said.

"It's all just greed and money and I'm never going to be able to afford to buy a place in London. I was born in London, shouldn't I be entitled to have a place here?"

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