The snow is falling outside and it’s freezing, which is why I am
pretty glad to be indoors somewhere nice and warm. So imagine how
unpleasant it would be to live in a half derelict shed at the bottom
of your landlord’s garden. Wouldn’t exactly feel like home, would it?
Exploitation of the vulnerable
Some of the poorest people in the UK are being exploited by
unscrupulous landlords in what the Daily Mail describes as a return to
the “notorious Victorian slum tenements of the 19th century”. Some
shed and garage conversions are not so bad, but many are no bigger
than glorified rabbit hutches; they are also dangerous.
More than forty-two rogue landlords have been handed enforcement
notices in the Newham Council borough since the end of 2011, and the
problem is getting worse thanks to overcrowding and rising rents. In
some cases, desperate families are being charged a fortune to take up
residence in a cramped hut with no facilities and certainly not enough
room.
Reporting dodgy dwellings
Once council officers have been alerted to the presence of an illegal
building, an enforcement notice is served on the owner instructing
them to take it down. If the owner fails to comply with the notice,
the council sends in contractors to forcibly remove the dwelling, at a
cost of around £1,000.
Wanted: good landlords
Local Authorities are happy to work with good landlords, but they are
also keen to stamp out rogue landlords in their boroughs, which means
serving enforcement notices on those who abuse the vulnerable for
profit.
