News
Dawn raid in Wembley finds 19 people living in four bedroom semi
Enforcement officers raided a house in Wembley earlier this month and found 19 tenants who were paying their landlord £1,000 a week between them.
Brent’s licensing team discovered a garage that had been illegally turned into two bedrooms with a makeshift partition wall between them; a shed in the process of being converted into what appeared to be another bedroom and smoke alarms in a state of disrepair.
The tenants living at the property in Nathans Road, Wembley, included two children.
Cllr Eleanor Southwood, Cabinet Member for Housing and Welfare Reform at Brent Council said:
“A landlord making £4,000 a month from exploiting tenants like this is committing an offence. We won’t hesitate in taking action against people who continue to treat tenants badly and provide homes that are unsafe. Our licensing scheme is clear. It requires landlords to meet certain standards and a landlord or agent who rents out to tenants without a licence is breaking the law.“
The raid was a joint operation with police officers with whom the council often carries out operations. Intelligence is shared between the council, police and the UK Border Agency. Brent’s aim is to support tenants and prevent them from being exploited by rogue landlords.
For more information on the property licensing requirements in Brent, you can read our free guide here.
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