A property firm co-owned by a former mayor has been prosecuted for illegally letting out an unlicensed HMO in London.

Kingscroft Estates, whose directors include last year’s mayor of Barnet, Mark Shooter, was ordered to pay almost £10,000 by a court after environmental health officers found rat droppings in a storage room and also that tenants were able to access an unguarded flat roof.

The unlicensed terrace property, next to Mornington Crescent tube station, had 14 residents sharing one small kitchen.

Labour said the prosecution was an embarrassment to the council.

Shooter, a Conservative ward councillor for Hendon, said he had been unaware of any breaches at the property and denied the prosecution was an embarrassment.

Only the week before, Barnet Council leader Richard Cornelius issued a warning to around 2,000 HMO landlords that they could face prosecution for not applying for the correct licences.

Shooter said the property was used as hostel for the homeless where the tenants had not been paying rent themselves, and that he was “proud to be helping people”.

He said: “If I had known the property didn’t have the correct licence I would have been very keen for it to get it. But I have several other businesses that I’m involved with and sometimes you rely on other people to ensure that a business is run correctly.”

Barnet Labour leader Barry Rawlings said: “There’s no excuse for it. It’s about how you treat people, and to allow people to live in that sort of state should not be allowed.”

Kingscroft Estates was prosecuted at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court where the company pleaded guilty to failing to license the house in Hurdwick Place, and to two breaches of HMO regulations.

The company was fined £4,000 for the three offences and ordered to pay legal costs and surcharges of £4,540 following the prosecution brought by Camden Council.

Leader of Barnet Council Richard Cornelius said: “We take housing standards very seriously in Barnet and enforce against instances of poor conditions.

“This particular matter is a private matter for Mark Shooter and has been dealt with through the courts. It is not connected to his role as a Hendon ward councillor.”

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