Street surveys underway to crackdown on unlicensed landlords in Brent

Wednesday, June 4th, 2025 - Brent Council

Enforcement officers were patrolling the streets of Brent on Friday 23 May 2025, as part of a borough-wide operation to identify and take action against landlords renting out properties without a licence. 

Brent Council currently operates mandatory HMO and selective licensing schemes. Their borough wide additional licensing scheme ended on 31 January 2025.

Multi-agency teams, including officers from private housing services, anti-social behaviour and environmental services, went door-to-door across targeted areas. They provided waste management advice, listened to residents’ concerns about anti-social behaviour, checked whether properties were free from serious health or safety hazards and took enforcement action against unlicensed landlords.

Councillor Fleur Donnelly-Jackson, Cabinet Member for Housing and Residents Services said:

“Every landlord in Brent is legally required to have a licence to rent out their property. This law exists to protect people from landlords who put them at risk by ignoring safety standards, cramming too many people into one home, or failing to carry out essential repairs. 

“We know that poor housing conditions can be extremely stressful and harmful to people’s health and wellbeing. No one should have to live in damp, overcrowded, or dangerous conditions while their landlord looks the other way. 

“That’s why we’re using targeted intelligence to focus our patrols on streets where we suspect landlords are renting without a licence. This is about protecting our residents and making sure landlords take their responsibilities seriously. 

“Responsible landlords play a vital role in providing quality homes and helping to ease the housing crisis – we won’t let rogue landlords ruin the reputation of those doing the right thing.” 

Landlord brothers plead guilty in court

Earlier this month, two brothers were fined £20,000 and put on the rogue landlord database after failing to obtain a license for their rented property. Officers found 15 people crammed into a seven-bedroom property when they turned up at the house in Ilmington Road, Kenton, following a tip-off from a neighbour. 

The tenants, who were all young students, were sleeping on mattresses, two to three people to a room. Brent’s Private Housing enforcement team found that smoke alarms had been covered up and that fire safety doors were missing when they inspected the property in July last year.

Although the landlords lived locally, they failed to respond to notices from the council that they needed to apply for a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licence. Appearing in court, Vimal and Ravi Kanji Bhudia pleaded guilty and were handed a £20,000 financial penalty for breaching housing regulations and failure to license.

Brent Council is currently consulting on plans to renew their additional licensing scheme. Residents, tenants, landlords, managing or letting agents, organisations and businesses still have time to take part in the consultation which closes on 10 June 2025. 

Our free guide containing more information about property licensing and HMO planning restrictions in Brent is available here.

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