A prominent landlord plans to challenge the taking away of his OBE, claiming that he has been unfairly made a “scapegoat” by Hounslow Council.

Nirpal Riat was told he must forfeit the honour following his conviction in July 2023 for renting out property that had been unlawfully converted into multiple self-contained flats, where the council said tenants faced unacceptable conditions. He was fined £301,000, including a victim surcharge.

“They wanted to target me, make me an example to other landlords, to say we’ve got the big fish,” he tells the BBC, claiming that he was being pursued while many other worse landlords were being overlooked. “Those are the ones that the council should be targeting, where people are really creaming money, where there are six people living in an outbuilding, charging up to £600 per person.”

Upset

Riat plans to mount a legal challenge over the loss of the OBE, which he says has left him “extremely upset” and damaged “my health, my family and my reputation”. He says claims about his behaviour as a landlord were exaggerated and that he will continue with the fundraising charity work that brought him the award in 2011.

Riat rejects the claims that his tenants had been living in poor conditions - and says over the next three months he will take legal action to overturn the loss of his OBE.

Decision

Hounslow Council's deputy leader, Tom Bruce, says the decision to remove the honour shows there will be “consequences for rogue landlords who put their tenants’ welfare at risk”. While Bruce had previously never seen the honours system being used this way against a rule-breaking landlord, he told the BBC he was “delighted they've taken the action. It certainly sends a clear message”.

The BBC reports that the Cabinet Office says the landlord has three months to hand back his medal to Buckingham Palace – for bringing the honours system into disrepute - and that there is no appeals process.

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