A landlord failed to provide hot water for his tenants for four years, and told them to ‘boil a kettle’ when they complained.
Landlord company Siteworth was last month fined £19,720 after tenants complained about no heating in the hallways, no hot water, mould and damp, and rotten window frames.
The firm pleaded guilty to nine offences at Bexleyheath Magistrates Court.
Timothy Knight, director of Siteworth, who allegedly told tenants they should ‘boil a kettle for all their needs’ to compensate for the lack of hot water, accepted a caution.
The two-storey detached Victorian property was rented and occupied by multiple tenants in eight individual bedsits.
Eltham MP Clive Efford had reported the tenants’ concerns to Greenwich Council’s rogue landlord team last year.
The team found that there was no hot water, a complete lack of heating in the hallways, visible mould and damp, and that the garden was overgrown.
Based on evidence from tenants, it was estimated that Knight and Siteworth made approximately £44,000 from the property each year without accounting for a mortgage.
An inspection found sufficient evidence to confirm the tenants’ allegations, as well as other serious housing management regulation breaches.
Cllr Jackie Smith, Greenwich Council cabinet member for community safety and environment, said: “Improving the quality of private rented homes and protecting tenants from greedy and exploitative landlords is at the heart our Rogue Landlord scheme.
“Greenwich Council will push for the strongest possible action to protect private tenants and ensure they have somewhere to live that is safe and properly managed.”
I just find myself wondering why it took such a very long time for Greenwich Council to resolve the problems at this HMO.
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This type of landlord only causes the good landlords to suffer with more rules and regulations and has encouraged rogue Councils like Croydon and Newham who use licensing to fill their coffers justifying their decisions on such bad landlords. All of this is causes tenants to have to pay higher rents so landlords can recover their costs.
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Properties like this are a crime. H’mmm how about authorities being able to seize, like they do from proceeds of crime. Boy that would sort out the rogue landlords.
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