Street by street surveys are underway in London by a council that wants to catch out landlords who have forgotten or avoided buying a license.

A statement by Brent council says: “Officers are actively looking for unlicenced privately rented homes. Landlords found illegally renting out their properties without a licence are likely to get a hefty fine and a possible criminal conviction.”

Borough-wide licensing in Brent has been the law since April 2024. All landlords letting properties in Brent, except the Wembley Park ward, need a license.

Meanwhile Brent council says a local landlord whose tenants were paying £3,500 to live in an overcrowded house has been handed fines totalling nearly £50,000.

Willesden Magistrates Court ordered Sanjay Patel to pay £49,495 for breaches to the Housing Act at a semi-detached house that he managed in Wembley.

The nearly £50,000 total is the largest set of fines and court costs that Brent has brought against an unlicensed landlord of an HMO this year. 

Magistrates heard how faulty doors, mould, blocked hallways and a general state of disrepair at the two-storey home showed Patel was failing his tenants by breaching housing legislation. 

Brent officers raided the property after a tenant reported a rat infestation, a leak and a broken toilet. They found eight people, including two children under the age of 13, crammed into the house with facilities only fit for a maximum of five people.