An unlicensed landlord has been ordered to repay £14,059 in housing benefit payments illegally made to her.
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Ms Filsteen Abu-Eid was sent a number of reminders by Newham Council to licence the five-bedroom terraced house on Rabbits Road, Manor Park.
The property falls with the Little Ilford NIZ zone. All private landlords who have properties in the designated zone have had to be licensed for the past two years.
In November 2011, Abu-Eid was convicted at Stratford Magistrates’ Court of failing to licence the property and fined £350.
In May this year, the council applied to the residential property tribunal for a rent repayment order to recover £14,059 in housing benefit payments made to Ms Filsteen Abu-Eid on behalf of her tenants.
Ms Abu-Eid told the Residential Property Tribunal, in central London, that although she was the freeholder, her father Mr Hammad managed the property and she had no involvement.
She could not repay the sum because she had three young children, was separated from her husband and on benefits, including being in receipt of housing benefit for the flat she lived in, the hearing was told.
But neither Ms Abu-Eid or her father, who owned several investment properties, provided sufficient evidence of their financial position to prove their exceptional circumstances.
The tribunal ordered Ms Abu-Eid to pay the council the sum of £14,079.84.
Newham Mayor Sir Robin Wales 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.”
