The Association of Independent Inventory Clerks says the issue of beds in sheds - mass renting of small areas, usually to migrants - is much worse than previously thought.
It says aerial photographs taken of suburban areas of the London borough of Harrow showed that instead of the anticipated 75 buildings containing mass renting, there were actually 319.
The pressures of migration in London, fuelled by new arrivals from Eastern Europe, is creating an unprecedented demand for housing. Unscrupulous landlords are cashing in, converting garages and outbuildings and offering them to vulnerable prospective tenants claims Pat Barber, the chair of the AIIC.
Thousands of sheds and outbuildings are rented out illegally and those living in in them have to put up with high rents and primitive conditions. It is a scandal that these back garden slums exist to exploit people who are trapped into paying extortionate rents to live in extremely cramped conditions says Barber.
The AIIC says landlords operating some of these premises could face civil and criminal charges including tax fraud, profiteering from illegal immigrants and allowing people to live in unsafe and unsanitary conditions.
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