A landlord has been ordered to pay £3,040 by a court for renting out a loft room which tenants could only access by going on all fours up a staircase.
Barnet council's environmental health officers found that the low ceiling above the staircase and small entrance hatch made it impossible for tenants to reach the room while standing upright, raising concerns it could slow or prevent escape in the event of a fire.
Head height along the course of the staircase was found to only be between 0.7 and 1.2m, and the door to the room was also reduced in size.
The landlord, Yaakov Marom of Hendon, has pleaded guilty at Willesden Magistrates' Court of failing to comply with an order served by the council prohibiting occupation of the loft room. He was ordered to pay a £1,500 fine, £1,420 in costs and a victim surcharge of £120.
The council first issued a Prohibition Order to Marom in February 2012 which prohibited use of the second floor room of the house for rental accommodation.
However, council officials visited the house with police officers in September last year and found that the room was still in use and being rented by a couple for £420 a month.
Councillor Tom Davey, chairman of the authority's housing committee, says: At the very least tenants have the right to expect that the accommodation they are renting is safe. Last year, Barnet council investigated over 970 reports of poor conditions in the borough, making it one of the most active authorities in London.
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Comments
This is getting ridiculous. Something needs to be done to stop these landlords without consciences manipulating and exploiting vulnerable people. It's so depressing to read stories like this, because it gives an unfair representation of landlords as a whole. This is a minority, but a very active minority, who are merely after a quick buck and couldn't give two hoots about the welfare of their tenants. Everything possible needs to be done to stamp them out.