Manor Park landlord fined £12,000 for failing to license flats

A landlord was ordered to pay £12,000 in court for renting out six properties without a licence.

Mark Graft, 42, of Warwick Avenue, Edgware, was ordered to pay a £9,000 fine and £3,000 in costs to Newham Council at Inner London Crown Court on Wednesday May 8 for failing to license six flats on Colchester Avenue, Manor Park.

Council officers from Private Housing and Environmental Health told the court five of the properties were in a very poor and dangerous condition and one was deemed unfit for people to live in.

The flats were believed to have damp, mould, fire, and electrical hazards including exposed wires, overcrowding, and severely rotten windows.

The landlord complied with improvement notices 11 months later.

Graft originally pleaded not guilty to six offences of failing to license private rented properties but he changed his plea to guilty on the day of the trial.

The council has now found an alternative licence holder to look after the flats.

Newham is the first borough in the country to register all private rented properties.

The scheme came into force in January and covers an estimated 40,000 tenancies.