A London council has begun door-to-door patrols to catch out rogue landlords.
Brent Council’s enforcement officers were patrolling streets in the borough after finding evidence that some tenants may be living in unlicensed properties, or homes that have breached planning rules.
Planning, anti-social behaviour and private housing services have been knocking on doors and asking if there are any serious hazards inside the homes, as well as checking if the property has been licensed properly.
The first street patrol took place six months after borough-wide licensing was introduced for landlords.
Under the new law every landlord who rents out a property in Brent must have a licence - except for in the Wembley Park area.
Last week a rogue landlord in the borough was fined nearly £50,000 for housing eight people in an overcrowded “house of horrors” in Wembley.
Eight tenants, including two children under the age of 13, were paying £3,500 to live in a home designed for five people which had a rat infestation, leak and broken toilet.
Willesden Magistrates Court has ordered Sanjay Patel to pay £49,495 for breaches of the Housing Act at the two-storey home he managed in Vivian Avenue.
Brent Council leader Muhammed Butt said: “We are receiving licensing applications, but we know there are many more applications still to be made.
“We have intelligence on certain streets with evidence to suggest that tenants might be living in unlicensed properties, or in properties that are in breach of planning regulations, and those are the areas we are targeting through our street patrols.
“No rogue landlord will slip through the net in Brent: if you are a landlord in Brent and your property is unlicensed, we will find you and you will face prosecution and hefty fines.”
