A Harrow landlord who let a dangerous and illegally built outbuilding to a mother and her child has been slapped with a £5000 fine and ordered to stop use of his garage to rent to tenants.
- Council shuts down dangerous ‘bed in shed’
- Young mother and child moved to safe property
- Landlord fined £5000 (and paid) after it was banned from use
Following concerns raised by the police, council officers uncovered a garage being rented out in unsafe and horrendous conditions. Not only was it structurally unsafe but it was riddled with serious health and safety hazards, including DIY electrical wiring and an excessive number of extension leads.
Inside, officers found flammable timber cladding, plastic wall finishes, damaged electrical sockets and no proper fire escape route. There was no smoke alarm, no insulation or fixed heating, and no secure door or window to protect the family living there. Worst of all, the building itself was never designed or approved for people to live in.
Officers had no choice but to place an Emergency Prohibition Order – banning anyone from using the outbuilding. They also issued the landlord with a £5000 Civil Penalty Notice for failing to declare the outbuilding in connection to a House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO) licence and providing false information.
Cllr Pritesh Patel, Cabinet Member for Cleaner Streets and Public Safety said:
“This landlord put lives at risk – and that is simply unacceptable. No one should have to live in unsafe or dangerous conditions. Our officers are cracking down on rogue landlords who put profit before people.
“Thanks to joint work with the police, we’ve taken swift enforcement action and ensured the mother and child are now in a safe, suitable home – no longer exposed to these appalling conditions. We’ll continue to put residents and their safety first and bring the law onto anyone else who thinks they can flout the law.”