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Council with Most Prosecutions of Agents and Landlords is Named
This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
Camden has been revealed as the local authority with the highest number of prosecutions of agents and landlords in London.
According to the Mayor of London’s rogue landlord and agent checker, launched last December to assist Londoners in securing affordable homes with the knowledge that their agent or landlord has not committed previous offences, Camden has prosecuted on 59 occasions and put 35 names on the blacklist.
Southwark Council has brought 51 prosecutions and placed 14 names on the blacklist. In third place is Newham with 44 prosecutions, and 27 names on the blacklist.
Camden Council’s prosecutions include one of a property management firm which was accommodating 26 people in over-crowded conditions above a former pub. The case resulted in a £40,000 fine.
Camden claimed that as a result of its prosecutions, more agents were coming forward to get HMO licences and seek advice.
Tenants also received compensation after seeking rent repayment orders for living in unlicensed HMOs, with £9,000 reclaimed in the last six months.
Dissimilar to the national ‘blacklist’ of agents and landlords, the Mayor of London’s database is completely accessible to the public. The national blacklist, launched in April, can only be viewed by local and central Government.
Notable prosecutions by Camden Council in the last year include:
- Over £42,000 in fines and costs secured from the managers of an unlicensed house in multiple occupation which had come to the council’s notice after tenants complained of a rat infestation, rotting windows and the need to use saucepans to catch water dripping through the bathroom floor
- A £40,000 fine for a property management company who were found to be accommodating 26 people in overcrowded conditions above the former Grand Union Pub on Camden Road.
- Clamping down on a landlord who illegally sub-divided rooms in the listed building which was the birthplace of Benjamin Disraeli.
Tenants are also receiving compensation after seeking rent repayment orders for living in unlicensed HMO’s, with £9,000 reclaimed by tenants in the last 6 months and more on the way.
