London,
20
August
2018
|
13:40
Europe/London

Camden leading the way in London for tough action on rogue landlords

Camden Council is prosecuting the most rogue landlords and agents of all the London boroughs.

Camden Council leads the way in London with 59 prosecution records on the Mayor of London’s Rogue Landlord and Agent Checker, which was launched in December 2017. This includes action against 35 separate landlords and agents.

Camden’s action has seen rogue landlords and agencies in the borough cough up a total of £233,146 in penalties.

Camden tops the table of the top five local authorities for carrying out prosecutions since December 2017:

Local authority Number of prosecutions on checker Number of rogue landlords/ agencies on checker
Camden 59 35
Southwark 51 14
Newham 44 27
Brent 31 23
Westminster 16 7

Notable prosecutions Camden has brought forward in the last year include:

  • Over £42,000 in fines and costs secured from the managers of an unlicensed house in multiple occupation which had come to the Council’s notice after tenants complained of a rat infestation, rotting windows and the need to use saucepans to catch water dripping through the bathroom floor.
  • A £40,000 fine for a property management company who were found to be accommodating 26 people in overcrowded conditions above the former Grand Union Pub on Camden Road.
  • Clamping down on a landlord who illegally sub-divided rooms in the listed building which was the birthplace of Benjamin Disraeli.

Camden Council is finding that as a result of these actions more high street agents are coming forward to get licences for their homes in multiple occupation and seek professional advice. Tenants are also receiving compensation after seeking rent repayment orders for living in unlicensed HMO’s, with £9,000 reclaimed by tenants in the last 6 months and more on the way.

Councillor Meric Apak, Cabinet Member for Better Homes at Camden Council, said: “A large proportion of Camden’s residents rent privately and our role is to both protect our residents’ housing rights and make landlords aware of their responsibilities. We have no hesitation in seeking to prosecute irresponsible landlords but we are here to work with and provide advice to all landlords to ensure they are able to meet their obligations, before we take this step.”

James Murray, Deputy Mayor for Housing and Residential Development at City Hall, said: “The Mayor launched the London-wide checker to help empower Londoners against the minority of rogue landlords and agents exploiting their tenants, and it’s great to see Camden playing such a big role in helping protect renters. We now need national government to play its part too, by making sure all councils have the resources and powers to go after rogue landlords in their patch, and by radically reforming the private rented sector through change that is long overdue.”

The figures detailed above are the most recent records which the GLA is able to publish and can be found on the GLA website. Significantly more data is available on the non-public tier of the database available for local authority enforcement purposes.