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Landlord added to rogues' register after letting out illegal bank vault

A landlord who let out a former bank vault as an illegal flat described by the local council as “dangerous” has been ordered to pay over £9,400 and will be added to a London list of rogue landlords.

At Croydon Magistrates’ Court, Anthony Roy Roe has been convicted of failing to apply to Croydon council’s licensing scheme and breaking a council prohibition order against renting out the flat to a lone tenant.

In February 2019 the tenant first contacted council officers about unsafe outdoor stairs with missing steps. On visiting the basement flat – a converted vault from when the building had historically been a former Barclays bank branch – inspectors also found Category 1 hazards relating to fire safety, lighting and excess heat. 

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These included no fire escape route except through the kitchen, a lack of natural light as there were no windows in the living room or bedroom, and no natural ventilation.

Using powers under the Housing Act, the council classed the flat as unfit to live in and issued a prohibition order. However, the council found the flat was still being rented out after Roe’s appeal was dismissed in August that year.

Once the tenant moved out of the flat the council began court proceedings against Roe for breaking the prohibition order and not having a licence. 

The council found the tenant emergency accommodation and later provided financial support to help her move into an alternative private rented property.

Roe, from Reading, was convicted in his absence of both breaking the prohibition order and failure to license the property via the landlord licensing scheme. 

He was ordered to pay a £2,640 fine for breaking the prohibition order, the council’s full costs of £6,624, and a £170 victim surcharge.

 

Roe will now be added to the Mayor of London’s rogue landlord database. The council says it will also apply to the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government for permission to add Roe to a national rogue landlord database.

Croydon’s landlord licensing scheme, set up in 2015 to raise housing standards in the private rented sector and fully funded through licence fees, expired last autumn and the council has applied to MHCLG for permission to renew it.

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    ''Rogue landlords register'' so is there any reason not to have a ''rogue tenants register'' as well ?

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    Yes Andrew. We should start one it will be considerably longer than the landlords one.

     
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    • 21 January 2021 12:22 PM

    There is certainly is NO reason not to have a rogue Tenant Register.
    How can we get it done?

     
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    • 21 January 2021 12:23 PM

    To have a register will certainly help LL, Letting Agents, the Courts, the Police, and will also benefit future decent tenants.

    It will also open the eyes for local authority housing departments as they will get flooded with people needing properties.....And that will teach them and rogue tenants a nasty problem.

    And good riddance to the cheating, nasty, feckless ass*oles.......

     
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    make sure you add bad tenants to list and sue tenants for losses--and follow it up with bailiffs otherwise the judgment is not registered

     
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    It is a ridiculous excuse for proper accommodation and can't defend that. However, its an adult Tenant that voluntary moved in there and not forced-in, did this person not miss the windows when viewing the property & other issues (doubt if one lone person lived there). The is a common story I will move-in then complain to Council and get Housed it still works well. It's not costing the State anything to re accommodate the person, the previous LL is paying £10k in advance, that'll do nicely.

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    its croydon covering its incompetence and ending up bankrupt--not that any employee will be sanctioned

     
  • Jason Flicker

    Hmm.

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    how about criminal tenants?

     
    PossessionFriendUK PossessionFriend

    Some responsibility has to be placed on the Tenants who ' WILLINGLY ' sign up to living in places they later complain about !

     
  • Fery  Lavassani

    Hey I have got a good idea. As you all know, Magistrates Courts are criminal courts (Courts of first instance). So if a landlord appears before the Magistrates, that means he has committed a criminal offence. So let confiscate his property under the "proceeds of crime Act 2002". That will send a loud and clear message to the rest of them.

    John  Bentley

    Wouldn't the Courts have to prove he purchased the property with the proceeds of crime to confiscate?

     
    Fery  Lavassani

    No John. Under the 2002 Act, the burden of proving that the goods or assets (in this case the property) were not obtained through the proceeds of the crime, is upon the landlord and not the CPS.

     
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    croydon is bankrupt due to iffy contacts with housing group--corruption?

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    • 21 January 2021 19:44 PM

    Crooks is the right word.

     
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    Terry, I didn't think much of Croydon I used to live there built 2 new Detached houses there. They filled the place with Yellow lines & otherwise unemployable traffic wardens, at that time car park one end of Town lug your shopping a long distance maybe in the pouring rain, what useless planners, a few parking tickets I was out of there.

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    known as the cronx--like the bronx--crime is massive--mostly ethnic

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    I thought tenants wanted more security. What's more secure than a bank vault?

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    • 22 January 2021 10:53 AM

    Jakob:

    If they don't pay, they have to go away.
    End of discussion.

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    What other thing can you get and keep without paying for it and not be committing a crime?

    Landlords on here are usually willing to work with tenants with unexpected problems and willing to work with us, but too many are now encouraged to fleece landlords, knowing they'll get off Scot free.

    Incidentally I would support both landlord and family by encouraging family to move out of unaffordable accommodation and avoid escalating debt.

     
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    Jakob, I'll provide a safe and lawful dwelling to safe and lawful tenants, any other kind of tenant need not apply.

    Jason Flicker

    "Safe and lawful" doesn't pay the rent though does it. It's not a criminal offense to withhold rent. A tenant can still be "safe and lawful" and yet still not pay the rent. "Safe and lawful" doesn't mean "a good paying tenant"

     
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    Jakob, it might not be a criminal offence not to pay the rent, but a safe tenant would pay the rent.

     
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    This is not about LL & Tenant its about Rogue Regulators trying to drive a wedge between LL & Tenant divide & conquer. I get on very well with my Tenants even though I am owed a substantial amount of rent, it not going to be paid by Benefit or U C either forget that. The point is everything the Tenant does is Lawful as you say whether they pay or not. Everything the LL does in running his business properly is Criminal is that not why they changed the Law in recent times especially for LL only from Civil Matter to Criminal Law and we all should know who was behind that. OK if Tenant don't pay Rent Robert thinks its Lawful but I pay several lots of C/tax and if not paid its unlawful and the red threatening comes straight away. We are all equal before the Law dream on ?.

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    Michael

    I think rent dodgers are criminal scum - don't know why you got an opposite impression?

     
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    • 22 January 2021 15:46 PM

    Jakob..

    It is a hard world...And like everything else in this world we All of us have to pay for what we get......
    Why does it be that these crooks think it is acceptable not to pay for the most expensive asset that they use, and then expect no retribution for failure to comply.

    As I always say - we need to opt the Australian and German systems...If the rent is not paid within about a week of due date then the Police pitch up and make sure you leave.....No questions.

    Seem very fair to me.

    Or do you walk out of Tesco and noy pay for your loaf of bread? Seems you might just do that!!!!!

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