The owner of, and estate agent responsible for letting a two-bedroom flat in Dagenham have been found guilty in court for providing extremely poor living conditions for tenants and have been ordered to pay over £22,000 between them.
Following a complaint, a Barking and Dagenham Council enforcement officer visited the unlicensed property at 7 Butteridges Close, Dagenham on …. and on inspection quickly found the property to have a large amount of issues, which included:
- Only one working heater in the property
- No smoke detection alarms
- Broken lights throughout the property including an unprotected light in the bathroom
- Severe infestation of bed bugs and evidence that children have been bitten
- A broken front door with locks so old, it was unable to secure the property
The housing enforcement officer also found huge issues in the kitchen where all the cupboards were in disrepair, the oven wasn’t working and the plug for the oven was poorly positioned and secured with duct tape, which would have increased the risk of a fire.
Damp and mould were also present throughout the property, especially in and around the bathroom window and on the ceiling.
The landlord, Mr Kehinde Wilson Gbadegesin, and the estate agent, Phil Davies Estate Agents, were issued with multiple notices to take action and resolve the issues. However, these were ignored, and no changes were made.
As a result, the case was taken to Barking Magistrates Court on 21.02.2023 and both the landlord and estate agent were found guilty in their absence.
Councillor Syed Ghani, Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety said: “Nobody should be living in such unacceptable conditions, and I’m really pleased that someone had the guts to report them to us.
“We don’t stand for this sort of behaviour from landlords and will continue to come down hard on anyone who refuses to provide quality living conditions for their tenants. I hope these fines send a warning to any other landlords who are not obeying our rules.”
The judge ordered Mr Gbadegesin to pay a total of £11,223.50 and Philip Davies Estate Agents were ordered to pay £11,000 and both fines must be paid within 28 days.
Barking and Dagenham Council operates a Private Rented Property Licensing Scheme, which means all landlords in the borough must be registered with the council. Tenants are encouraged to report landlords if they know they’re not registered and can do so by emailing prpl@lbbd.gov.uk.