Fine for renting out mouldy, dirty East Ham house

A landlord and letting agent will have to pay almost £40,000 between them after renting out a dilapidated property in East Ham.

The seven-bedroom house, in Harrow Road, was found to have mould on the walls, dirty communal areas and no working fire detectors during an inspection by environmental health officers and the borough’s enforcement partnership team in July 2013.

Five men were living in the property, which owner Priptal Sira, of Gordon Road, Romford, did not have planning permission to turn into a house of multiple occupation.

He was summoned to court by the council after failing to comply with enforcement notices, and on December 3 was found guilty of 11 breaches of housing regulations and one of planning regulations.

Sira, who admitted one count of breaching housing regulations, was fined £2,700 at Thames Magistrates’ Court and ordered to pay costs of £3,000 and a victim surcharge of £40.

The letting agent, Anjum Rashid of AJ Properties Ltd, was found guilty of 13 offences related to managing a house of multiple occupations.

He was fined £32,000, with costs of £1,321.30 and a victim surcharge of £120.

Andrew Baikie, mayoral advisor for housing, said: “These prosecutions highlight the high standards we expect landlords and letting agents to meet while renting out properties in the borough.

“We want to make unsanitary and unsafe housing a thing of the past and this case highlights how we will pursue all those responsible for placing tenants in to such accommodation, to the courts if necessary.”