Asian landlords fined £20k for cramming students into unsafe London home

TWO brothers have been fined £20,000 and put on the ‘rogue landlord’ database after 15 people were found crammed inside a seven-bed property in north London.

Council officers also found smoke alarms covered with aluminium foil and fire doors missing after being tipped off by a neighbour.

Housing enforcement officers from Brent Council paid a visit to the property on Ilmington Road in Kenton after reports it was operating as an unlicensed house of multiple occupancy (HMO).

Landlords in Brent can get an unlimited fine upon prosecution and a criminal record if they do not obtain a licence. Alternatively, they could receive a civil penalty of up to £30,000 per offence and be banned from running a rental property.

Brothers Vimal and Ravi Kanji Bhudia had rented out the seven-bedroom property to 15 people, all young students who were forced to sleep on mattresses on the floor, two or three to a room. The house was also found not to meet fire safety regulations as the smoke alarm had been covered and safety doors removed, following the inspection in July last year.

Despite living locally, the landlords did not respond to notices from the council about the need for an HMO licence.

The council issued enforcement action and the brothers appeared at Willesden magistrates court last week, where they were told they had been given “a significant amount of time and opportunities” to respond.

They both pleaded guilty to the charges of breaching housing regulations and failure to have a licence, and were issued a £20,000 fine.

The cabinet member for housing and residents services, councillor Fleur Donnelly-Jackson, said the brothers “acted as if they were above the law” and have ultimately paid “a heavy price for it”.

She added: “Every landlord in Brent is legally required to have a licence. The law exists to protect tenants from rogue landlords who overcrowd their homes and ignore fire safety regulations while pocketing their tenants’ money.

The aluminium foil covered smoke alarms

“Every Brent resident has the right to live in a safe and secure home.”

Borough-wide licensing became law in 2020, requiring all landlords renting out HMO properties in Brent, except Wembley Park, to obtain a licence. However, the five-year programme ended in January, during which 2,500 were licenced.

The council is currently running a consultation on plans to extend it which, if approved, will come into force in the autumn. The local authority claims the previous licensing scheme helped it “improve standards and management practices” of many HMOs across the borough, but acknowledges that a significant number are still “still substandard and potentially dangerous”.

The private rental sector is increasingly being used to address a shortfall in social housing, and the council wants to use tougher rules to “drive up standards” and make them safer.

Licensing imposes specific obligations on the landlord to demonstrate that their property is safe while enabling the council to enforce rules. The licence would cost landlords £1,040 for the application, processing and inspection of up to five habitable rooms – either a lounge, dining room or bedroom – and a further £25 per additional room.

If the property licence holder or managing agent is accredited to the London Landlord Accreditation Scheme, the council has proposed a £40 discount per property application.

(Local Democracy Reporting Service)