Council to crackdown on rogue landlords as raid uncovers 35 men living in THREE-BED house
ROGUE landlords are to be targeted by a council after a raid on a three-bedroom house yesterday found 35 men living inside on mattresses.
A raid on a three-bedroom house found 35 men living inside on mattresses
Officials warned they were “coming for” property owners who ruthlessly exploit vulnerable tenants.
The 6am swoop on the house in Brent, north-west London, followed complaints by neighbours.
In one room, eight men were found to be sleeping side by side on “wall-to-wall” mattresses.
The 35 men, all of eastern European origin, had piled bedding in every room except the bathrooms, with one mattress even laid out under a canopy in the refuse-clogged back garden.
The 35 men had piled bedding in every room except the bathrooms
Rogue landlords make their money by exploiting people who can least afford it
Pictures of the inside of the squalid semi-detached property in Queensbury showed dozens of shoes piled on top of each other and clothes strewn across radiators.
Harbi Farah, cabinet member for housing and welfare reform at Brent Council, said it highlighted the worst excesses of unscrupulous property owners.
He said: “Rogue landlords make their money by exploiting people who can least afford it. It’s a shameful practice and this is an especially shocking example.”
In one room, eight men were found to be sleeping side by side on 'wall-to-wall' mattresses
Last week the council voted in new penalty measures of up to £30,000 for people breaching housing law.
The authority said the owner of the property was being traced, adding that it had secured more than 100 successful prosecutions against rogue landlords in July.
Mr Farah added: “Any landlord treating their tenants unfairly should be on notice – we’re coming for you.”