Landlordism 21st century in Hyde Park Leeds

There is more to the nuisance neighbours than the student neighbours themselves. They are almost collateral themselves as the unwitting agents of landlordism.

In pre-Covid times the student parties would reach antisocial heights shortly after exams then would continue until Change-over day, then we locals would be able to relax over summer.

But not exactly. With summer, come the letting agents, the builders and cleaners. The house owners don’t actually get their hands dirty themselves. In fact some of them don’t even live in Leeds

The un-builders, on the house owners’ orders, via the agents have quite dismantled and looted the beautiful Victorian buildings of Hyde Park Leeds. These houses were built by their predecessors from an age of the Ragged Trousered Philanthropists and said predecessors worked till they dropped to install all the beautiful banisters, architraves and ceiling roses. These days, with the removal of the banisters and the stairs themselves there is space enough to create another little flat in what had been the entrance hall, and is now just another money earner. And the age of Victorian architectural facades is exactly that today, not just looking at the difference between the backs and fronts of our houses, but the front exteriors and all interiors.

Besides the builders there is another subgroup which you could call cleaners but with a by-line in fly-tipping. The ex-tenants-to-be themselves start by leaving unwanted possessions in and around the bins. The fly-tippers take the rest and just leave them anywhere in the street. Most astonishing of all is that in our particular area they leave filthy sofas on St John’s Grove which is a private road and a cul-de-sac, where there is absolutely no passing traffic or trade. And there they stay until a local long-term resident neighbour calls the council. This has a knock-on effect on Moorland Avenue, the in-effect back street to Moorland Road and Avenue, being the street that outsiders dump their unwanted fridge-freezers in, as well.

There is a convention whereby, if you want to recycle some items you leave them at the bottom of your path or garden, and if they’re not taken within a few days you just take them to the tip yourself. But to leave rubbish of this size and unquality on the one street which no vehicles were supposed to go down and goes nowhere is mind blowing. And to think that is acceptable to drive to the through road backstreet and leave tall freezers ready to topple over on our 4 year-olds is sickening. Despicably dangerous.