The lack of windows and hence insufficient ventilation, along with a lack of plumbing, left residents of the internal apartments susceptible to a variety of ailments (cholera epidemics, for example). They were also built so close together that no sunlight could enter. This made it difficult for tenants to grow their own food or maintain a garden. The poor quality of construction work meant that many tenements were infested with insects such as cockroaches and mice. Residents had to pay high rents to live in these unhealthy conditions. Many tenements were also overcrowded. This resulted in issues such as congestion, noise, and frustration over inadequate housing facilities. It can also have led to violence between people who were forced to live under these conditions. Finally, some tenements did not provide any storage space for anything other than clothes. If you needed a place to store books or furniture then you were out of luck. This is just a brief overview of the problems associated with tenements.