Council crackdown on landlords who let sheds with beds

Properties unfit for human habitation are being let out to desperate people, including immigrant families.

The so-called ‘sheds with beds’ are squalid outhouses found in back gardens in Slough.

The town is plagued with the phenomenon and the council has reported finding 2,500 sheds with beds so far, after using Google Earth.

Some are just 15 yards long and 12ft wide, with two families sharing the cramped facilities.

The council has been investigating the dwellings for the past two years and was awarded a government grant of £525,000 for this work. This has now been cut to £350,000.

Keith Ford, housing standards manager for Slough Council, said: “We’re really committed to eradicating the town of these illegal dwellings and to make sure people renting them are not exploited to living in bad, and often dangerous, conditions.”

Many of the properties are illegal because they do not have planning permission. The council has been serving notices on property owners to demand the removal of facilities like kitchens and showers.

The council has also been checking the condition of HMOs, which are often on the same plot of land as the ‘sheds’, which are used as overspill sleeping and living arrangements.