A letting agent has lost his appeal against being stripped of his “fit and proper” person status and banned from managing any house with multiple occupiers.

Ifthikar Uddin, 48, was company secretary of Key Property (UK) in Hounslow, west London, when it was fined £42,500 in September last year after being found guilty of 15 housing offences.

The firm also traded under the names of Key Solutions and Key Lettings.

This summer Hounslow Council stripped Uddin of his “fit and proper” person status and from acting as a managing agent of an HMO.

Uddin appealed but the sanctions were upheld in a property chamber tribunal last month. The ruling has just been made public.

The tribunal heard how he had rented out bedsits described as filthy and as potential deathtraps.

Nor did he have the licences required for any house in the borough with three or more unrelated occupiers.

Houses he owned or managed had been found with inadequate fire safety, dangerous boilers and electric hazards, as well as being riddled with damp and mould.

In one property, tenants had no control of their heating or hot water supply. Instead, they were controlled by their landlord living next door.

In one two-storey property, 16 people were living with four bedrooms between them, although one room was so tiny it had barely enough space for a bed.

Hownslow Council said it was a landmark case, and that it was one of the first authorities in the country to use the “fit and proper” test.

Council leader Steve Curran said: “We will not tolerate rogue landlords in Hounslow.

“Where we have the evidence and power we will crack down hard on these parasites who are making profits from vulnerable people, often on sky-high rents.”