A rogue landlord has been handed a whopping £64,000 fine after he was found renting a five-bedroom house to 13 people.

Ilyas Patel housed four families – two of them with small children – in the mid-terrace property on Altmore Avenue, East Ham (pictured) which was unlicensed and had a severe mice infestation, My London reports.

Environmental health officers from Newham Council inspected the dangerously overcrowded house in November 2023, where the unrelated tenants shared one kitchen and bathroom. They were paying between £600 and £750 a month in rent.

Following a hearing at Thames Magistrates Court, Patel was fined a total of £63,977 including additional costs.

Overcrowded

A council spokesman says: “This verdict sends a strong message to landlords and managing agents that overcrowded, unsafe, and unlicensed properties will not be accepted in Newham. The prosecution highlights how seriously we take our responsibility to safeguard the well-being of all our residents, ensuring that housing conditions meet legal standards.”

The council adds that its housing team uses a proactive approach by actively seeking out hidden HMOs every few weeks. It conducts fortnightly operations with the police, using intelligence to identify and inspect properties that fail to meet licensing requirements under its selection, mandatory and additional schemes.

The London borough comes down hard on errant landlords; earlier this year it was involved in a landmark victory involving a rogue landlord, resulting in fines exceeding £100,000, and issued its first ever banning order to a landlord letting out an unlicensed property.

Pic credit: Google Streetview