An unscrupulous landlord has been ordered to pay £37,000 after 18 people were found living in a three-bedroom house in north London.
Charles Egbiremolen, 57, was operating eight bedsits without a licence in a converted three-bedroom terraced house in Fairmead Crescent, Edgware.
Egbiremolen was found guilty of nine offences at Willesden Magistrates’ Court on 25 November and sentenced at the same court this month.
Barnet Council was called to the property following neighbour complaints about noise, antisocial behaviour and overcrowding.
Council inspectors and the police entered the property with a warrant and found extreme overcrowding, with one room being shared by six people, including babies.
Another room of 7.8sqm was occupied by two tenants, the local authority said.
Council inspectors discovered disrepair throughout the property, it failed to meet safety standards, had an inadequate fire alarm system, and no safe means of escape in case of fire.
Egbiremolen was found guilty of a range of offences including failing to licence the property, management and safety offences, and failure to supply statutory information to the council.
He was fined £15,000, along with a £2,000 victim surcharge and £20,000 contribution to the council’s costs.
“It is the responsibility of every landlord to make sure that their properties comply with the law and their tenants are safe,” a spokesperson for the council said.
If councils already have the powers to prosecute rogue landlords [and there are plenty more they should go after], why do we need the RRB?
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It is time we stopped calling these criminals “landlords” they are not landlords they are criminals exploiting people. I would imagine that all of the tenants were illegal immigrants who could not find a decent rental legally.
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Agreed, Unfortunately authorities do not have a clue as to how many illegally operating landlords they have in England.
In Wales the Registration and Licencing Scheme has been running for over 7 years and the majority of properties are registered. The Landlords (if self-managing) and all agents have to do training and shortly there will be additional rules on inspections, etc. The Renting Homes (Wales) Act is by no means perfect, because the Labour run Assembly brought in the housing act to cover both the Private Rented Sector and Social Housing, and the contracts run to around 38 pages, but overall standards should improve over time. It will be a mammoth task to get everyone to follow a similar regime in England.
I note that these big fine, overcrowding cases never have landlords with traditional surnames like Smith and Jones.
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