Havering Council continued to clampdown on rogue landlords in 2018, with new figures revealing that the local authority issued just over £300,000 worth of penalty notices during the first 11 months of this year.

Enforcement was issued primarily against landlords operating inadequate and dangerous living conditions in HMOs, with the council taking action against a number of landlords, and that included handing 108 financial penalty notices, 16 housing related notices served to address poor housing standards, 181 licence applications served and £144,854 licensing fees collected.

The total penalty notice value for the year to the end of November is £304,250, supported in part by the introduction of the council’s Landlord Licensing Scheme, which started earlier this year, requiring private landlords of HMOs to apply for a licence.

Cllr Viddy Persaud, cabinet member for public protection and safety, commented: “The past 11 months have seen us carry out back-to-back enforcement action.

“Under our landlord scheme, we are successfully rooting out those landlords that think they are above the law.

“Our message to them is, is they cannot get away with it.

“We won’t tolerate these landlords taking advantage of local families and individuals by providing overcrowded and poorly maintained HMO properties.

“Our officers will continue to be proactive to make sure tenants are living safely in private rented accommodation.

“Landlords of HMOs that breach the regulations should be aware that we will use the strongest possible action against them every time.”