Rundown property ‘overcrowded and dangerous’

Landlord Nasar Ahmad (pictured) gazes up at the filthy, damp house – which has a ceiling on the brink of collapse – that has earned him a �5,700 fine.

Ahmad, of Boundary Road, East Ham, was captured in this photo by Newham Council housing enforcement officers during a visit to the property the town hall labelled a slum.

He was found guilty of 18 charges at Thames Magistrates’ Court for failing to discharge statutory duties as a manager of a house in multiple occupation – a mid-terrace two-storey house illegally converted into two flats, which is also on Boundary Road.

The council say inspectors were shocked to find tenants living in such conditions. “The property was overcrowded, damp, filthy and engrained with dirt. The ceiling in the kitchen was cracked and bulged so alarmingly it was likely to result in structural collapse,” said the inspectors.

Ahmad was also ordered to pay Newham’s Council costs of �1,752.55 and a victim surcharge of �15.

Newham Mayor Sir Robin Wales said it was unacceptable where private sector tenants are “being directly exploited by landlords who force them to live in dangerous and unacceptable conditions.”

He continued: “One bad house can drag down a whole street and we are doing this for the community.

“There are good landlords in Newham and we want to work with them. Unfortunately there are also some unscrupulous ones – and these are the ones we are targeting.”