A letting company has been hit with a bill for £12,500 after letting out an overcrowded, freezing property as an HMO.
Sumal and Sons Properties, of Stamford Hill, north London, was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay nearly £4,000 in costs. The firm must also repay about £6,500 in rent, the Inner London Crown Court ruled.
The defendants had earlier been found guilty in their absence at Stratford Magistrates’ Court of failing to license a Victorian two-bedroom privately rented house.
Newham Council enforcement officers said the house was severely overcrowded, with families sharing single rooms. There was extreme condensation and damp and poor insulation, leading to freezing conditions.
Under the Proceeds of Crime Act, sentencing was committed to the ILCC to consider a compensation order. The rent paid to the firm while the property was not licensed was deemed to be a criminal benefit.
The prosecution comes as Newham Council is undertaking a consultation exercise, examining the possibility of licensing all private landlords. If given the go-ahead, Newham would be the first borough in the country to do this.
Newham Mayor Sir Robin Wales said: “We will never accept private sector tenants being directly exploited by landlords who force them to live in dangerous and unacceptable conditions.
“Good landlords have nothing to fear from this scheme. For the bad ones, this a clear message they must clean up their act.”
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