Manor Park landlord in court for ‘leaving tenants in filthy state’

A landlord has been fined after tenants were discovered living in poor conditions in an overcrowded house in Manor Park.

Council inspectors found a cooker covered with grease at the Romford Road property, as well as rubbish left to rot in the garden and a grime-encrusted toilet.

Jan Assakzai 42, of Friars Road, East Ham, was fined �5,500 after admitting at Thames Magistrates’ Court a total of 23 counts of breaching houses in multiple occupation (HMO) management regulations

The property was only licensed for five people.

However, the court heard there were up to nine tenants with an additional two or three living there on various occasions.

Assakzai was also ordered to pay �300 costs and a �15 victim surcharge.

Newham Cllr Ian Corbett, executive member for infrastructure and environment said: “We want to ensure that private sector rented properties are well managed and meet a good standard.

“We also want to deal with the crime and anti-social behaviour that is sometimes associated with bad private sector rented housing.

“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. For the bad ones, we have a clear message: clean up your act or pay the price.”