A lettings organisation which calls itself a club rather than an agency has been heavily fined.

The judge said that the tenants had been given membership agreements “to try and curtail their rights”, and that club membership and purported licences to occupy were “entirely contrived” arrangements.

Lifestyle Club LSC Ltd was fined £22,299 after failing to respond to statutory housing notices serviced by Camden Council as part of an investigation into two unlicensed Houses in Multiple Occupation.

At the sentencing at Highbury Corner Magistrates Court, Lifestyle Club LSC was fined £6,532 for each of three offences, while sole director Tiina Lehtla, 30, of Argyle Square, was fined £1,760 for each of her three offences.

Assad Ghafoor, 48, owner of one of the properties, was fined £1,760 for  two offences.

In addition to the fines, each defendant also has to pay £2,533 costs and a £170 court surcharge.

This means total fines were £22,299 for Lifestyle Club LSC Ltd, £7,983 for Lehtla and £6,223 for Ghafoor.

None of the defendants attended court or sent in representations at either the trial or sentencing.

District Judge Rimmer said at sentencing: “I consider the defendants to have high culpability and this was a case of medium harm based on risk to the tenants because of the poor state of the two properties.

“This was a cost-cutting exercise by the defendants. They did not apply for licences to avoid an inspection which would have resulted in expense to bring the properties up to standard.

“Defects in the properties included inadequate fire detection, poor quality partition walls, no kitchen door, dampness and mould.

“The tenants were from abroad and the most in need. They were given membership agreements instead of tenancy agreements to try and curtail their rights.

“The obstruction of the local authority by not returning the statutory notices was deliberate and a commercial decision to try and frustrate the investigation by environmental health officers.”

In December 2017, Camden Council received information from the London Fire Brigade that a fourth floor flat was occupied by seven unrelated persons as an HMO with inadequate fire safety.

The following month, Camden Council inspected the property finding the lounge had been poorly converted into two bedrooms.

Rent was paid to Lifestyle Club LSC Ltd though the occupants had club membership agreements and licences to occupy, as opposed to tenancy agreements.

There was only one working smoke detector in the property. The partition in the lounge had gaps through which there were wires and did not provide 30 minutes fire protection.

As an HMO, the property should have been licensed, but no application for a licence had been made.

Camden Council inspected another property which was on the second and third storeys of a four storey building.

The council found the lounge had been poorly converted into two bedrooms. There were four other bedrooms with a total of five residents.

Statements were taken from three residents who paid rent to Lifestyle Club LSC Ltd.

Again occupants had club membership agreements and licences to occupy as opposed to tenancy agreements.

There was only one smoke detector in the property and that did not work. The partition in the lounge was poor quality and had gaps and a large hole.

The light switch in the kitchen was not connected to the wall. The doors were poorly fitted and did not provide the required separation from the spread of fire.

As an HMO, the property should have been licensed, but no application for a licence had been made.

Following these inspections, Camden Council served statutory notices on Lifestyle Club LSC Ltd and Ghafoor.

None of the statutory notices served on Lifestyle Club LSC Ltd and Mr Ghafoor were returned.

It is an offence not to respond to such notices, that carries an unlimited fine.

At the trial on January 28, District Judge Rimmer found the three defendants guilty in their absence.

He also found that both properties were HMOs in poor and unsafe condition.

He said that the use of the membership agreements and purported licences to occupy were entirely contrived arrangements.

He said that the effect of these was to deprive those occupiers of the benefits enjoyed under a normal landlord/tenant relationship such as security of tenure.

Cllr Meric Apak, cabinet member for better homes at Camden Council, said: “The ‘club’ residents living at these properties signed up to did not offer an exclusive, luxury experience – its occupants were living in illegal, dangerous and unhealthy conditions.

“Without our investigation, they may have continued to remain voiceless and in this vulnerable state.”

Club charging monthly fees to members says it is not an agent letting to tenants