Two brothers have been slapped with a £20,000 fine and put on the rogue landlord database after failing to get licensed as landlords.

Officers found 15 people crammed into a seven-bedroom property when they turned up at the home in Kenton, north London, following a tip-off from a neighbour.

The tenants, who were all young students, were sleeping on mattresses, two to three people to a room. 

Brent’ council’s enforcement team found that smoke alarms had been covered up and that fire safety doors were missing when they inspected the property in July last year. Although the landlords lived locally, they failed to respond to notices from the council that they needed to apply for a Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licence.

Willesden Magistrates said in court last week that the brothers had been given “a significant amount of time and opportunities” to respond to the council’s requests. 

Vimal and Ravi Kanji Bhudia pled guilty and were handed a £20,000 financial penalty for breaching housing regulations and failure to licence.

Councillor Fleur Donnelly-Jackson, Cabinet Member for Housing and Residents Services, says: “Vimal and Ravi Kanji Bhudia acted as if they were above the law and have paid a heavy price for it. Every landlord in Brent is legally required to have a licence. The law exists to protect tenants from rogue landlords who overcrowd their homes and ignore fire safety regulations while pocketing their tenants’ money. Every Brent resident has the right to live in a safe and secure home.”