A landlord has been fined £5500 after tenants were discovered living in appalling, overcrowded conditions.
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Jan Assakzai 42, of Friars Road, East Ham, admitted at Thames Magistrates’ Court a total of 23 counts of breaching houses in multiple occupation (HMO) management regulations for an end-of-terrace house on Romford Road, Manor Park.
The property was only licensed for five people. However, the court heard there were up to nine tenants with an additional two or three living there on various occasions.
Council inspectors discovered appalling conditions including a cooker covered with grease, refuse left to rot in the garden and a grime-encrusted toilet.
Assakzai was also ordered to pay £300 towards council legal cost and a £15 victim surcharge.
Newham Council’s Cllr Ian Corbett, executive member for infrastructure and environment said: “We want to ensure that private sector rented properties are well managed and meet a good standard. We also want to deal with the crime and anti-social behaviour that is sometimes associated with bad private sector rented housing.
“One bad house can drag down a whole street and we are doing this for the community.
“There are good landlords in Newham and we want to work with them. Unfortunately there are also some unscrupulous ones – and these are the ones we are targetting.
“We will never accept private sector tenants being directly exploited by landlords who force them to live in dangerous and unacceptable conditions.
“Good landlords have nothing to fear. For the bad ones, we have a clear message: clean up your act or pay the price.”
