Following a complaint from a tenant, a private landlord and an agent have been fined more than £21,000 for managing an unlicensed house in multiple occupation.

On inspection of the property in Islington, north London, eight unrelated occupants were found sharing kitchen and bathroom facilities and multiple broken items were listed.

Among the faulty items, a cracked electrical plug socket was found in the living room. It was noted that there were no functioning fire detection systems and the fire blanket was missing from the communal kitchen area.

Kuppusami Selvarajan, the landlord of the property, was fined £7650 and the managing agent, S3A Management, was fined £5773. In addition to these fines, the defendants were also ordered to pay the council’s legal costs of £5770.

Tenants can claim back the rent they have paid under the Rent Repayment Order.

Cllr Diarmaid Ward, executive member for housing and development at Islington, said, “London is facing a massive housing crisis and this has put many people on lower incomes at risk of exploitation.

“Everyone has the right to safe, genuinely affordable housing, and Islington will not tolerate dodgy operators taking advantage of people’s desperate need for a home.

“It’s unacceptable for landlords to rake in rent from vulnerable people living in rundown, unsafe spaces, and where we find unacceptable conditions we will act to protect tenants.”

Original Source 
Property Industry Eye