'Unscrupulous' landlords ordered to pay £9,000 in HMO case

A pair of landlords have been ordered to pay almost £9,000 after failing to license overcrowded student digs.

The three-storey house in London N1 is a former right to buy family home with six bedrooms.

Owners and landlords Abdul Kalam and his wife Jahanara Begum, who live in Basingstoke, Hampshire, were branded as ‘unscrupulous’ by Camden Council, which took them to court.

The couple had collected rent from six students living in the property, but failed to apply for a house in multiple occupation (HMO) licence.

This was despite receiving ‘numerous’ warnings and correspondence from the council.

The house did not have adequate fire exits and precautions, while the landlords received over £40,000 a year in rent.

The pair had pleaded not guilty to all offences, but on the first day of the trial changed their plea to guilty in respect of five offences.

Their daughter gave evidence and pleaded mitigation on their behalf. The case was heard at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court where District Judge Crane stated that she did not find the daughter’s evidence to be reliable or credible.

She said: “The lack of compliance with the regulations compromised the safety of tenants and possibly put their lives at risk. This would still have applied even if there were only four tenants. These regulations are in place to prevent precisely this sort of abuse of tenants and putting them at risk in order to pocket large sums of money without carrying out repairs.”

She fined Kalam and Begum £1,000 each for failing to obtain a licence and made Begum pay £2,000 towards the council’s costs. Kalam was also fined £2,000 for failing to provide fire precautions and £250 for a broken window. He had to pay £2,508.75 in costs and both had to pay a victim support charge of £15.

Councillor Abdul Hai, cabinet member for community safety at Camden Council, said: “Irresponsible landlords need to get the message loud and clear: you will not be tolerated in Camden.

“We will use all powers available to prosecute these people who are more concerned with lining their pockets than providing safe and decent accommodation to paying tenants.”