I was just talking to some students from Leeds the other night, after the BBC Watchdog programme about Tariq Zaman and Providence Properties. It seems that the student union is well aware of both Providence Properties and Tariq Zaman, and has contacted him on numerous occasions to get deposits back that rightfully belong to students, without any joy.

It’s disgusting how someone can exploit the needs of students for accommodation, and can steal their money, in the way that Tariq Zaman and Providence Properties seem to have done.

As I mentioned in my last post, I’m a landlord myself and wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if I just stole people’s money and avoided the courts when they ruled against me. In my opinion it’s because of people like Tariq Zaman, and Providence Properties, that the housing market is so low at the moment. By having over 600 hundred properties, as Providence Properties state on their website, regular folk can’t afford to buy a house, and when students graduate and can’t their deposits back as Watchdog state, they’re starting life off with another debt on top of their student debts.

Providence Properties should be run out of business for their actions if they’re true, and hopefully as a result of the BBC Watchdog programme, coverage online and the help of Leeds University, students will boycott them.

More importantly, if landlords boycott the service they offer they’ll go out of business. There are many decent letting agents around, without having to use Tariq Zaman and Providence Properties.

Darren Jamieson

Darren Jamieson, aka MrDaz, is the Technical Director and co-founder of Engage Web and has been working online in a career spanning two decades. His first website was built in 1998 and is still live today.

    

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