Council locks landlord out of house where 16 people found living

The London Borough of Waltham Forest has locked a rogue landlord out of a house he owns in which officers found 16 people were living.

The council enforced an interim management order at the Walthamstow house, taking over the day-to-day running of the property “due to the landlord’s complete refusal to operate responsibly”, a council statement said.

Officers have changed the lock on the main door and told tenants the council will now be their landlord.

Khevyn Limbajee, cabinet member for housing at Waltham Forest, said: “It’s obviously a last resort for us to have to take control of a property away from its owner, but we were given no choice due to this landlord’s poor attitude and lack of concern for the safety of his tenants."

The council acted after the owner failed to resolve longstanding problems at the house.

It said it had been licensed as a house in multiple occupation (HMO) but this status had been revoked in July 2015 due to poor living conditions and overcrowding.

The owner made no effort to re-licence the property or improve conditions, and was prosecuted by the council earlier this year.

There remained a number of planning breaches at the property, the council said, including conversion of the top floor into a self-contained flat, and a large ‘bed-in-shed’ in the back garden occupied by four people.

Officers found 16 people resident in the property’s five units and tenants were paying total monthly rent in excess of £4,000.

The council runs two property licensing schemes, one for mandatory HMOs and one for all other privately rented properties.