Two landlord brothers have been slapped with a £20,000 fine and put on the rogue landlord database after failing to license their overcrowded HMO.
Brent Council’s private housing enforcement team found 15 people crammed into seven bedrooms when they inspected the property in Ilmington Road, Kenton, following a tip-off from a neighbour.
The tenants, who were all young students, were sleeping on mattresses, two to three people to a room. Inspectors found that smoke alarms had been covered up and that fire safety doors were missing when they inspected the property last July. Although Vimal and Ravi Kanji Bhudia lived locally, they failed to respond to notices from the council informing them they needed to apply for an HMO licence.
Willesden Magistrates said the brothers had been given “a significant amount of time and opportunities” to respond to the council’s requests. Both admitted breaching housing regulations and failing to licence the HMO and were handed a £20,000 fine.
Councillor Fleur Donnelly-Jackson, cabinet member for housing and residents services, says the brothers acted as if they were above the law and had paid a heavy price for it.
“Every landlord in Brent is legally required to have a licence,” she adds. “The law exists to protect tenants from rogue landlords who overcrowd their homes and ignore fire safety regulations while pocketing their tenants’ money. Every Brent resident has the right to live in a safe and secure home.”
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