A local authority claims that a court decision may set a legal precedent for other councils across the UK using the Proceeds of Crime Act.

The follows a Crown Court judge’s order to a family of landlords who crammed 31 tenants into one property to pay thousands of pounds in fines, costs and confiscation orders.

Mother and daughter Harsha and Chandni Shah, along with Harsha Shah’s brother Sanjay Shah, were pocketing around £112,000 a year by housing 31 people in a four-bedroom house in Wembley.

They were assisted by Jaydipkumar Valand, who was acting as their agent and collecting rent from the tenants.

Enforcement officers from Brent council also found a woman living in a lean-to shed in the back garden of the property during a raid on the premises in July 2016. 

The shack had no lighting or heating and was made out of wood offcuts, pallets and tarpaulin.

Her Honour Judge Wood of Harrow Crown Court made a Confiscation Order for the sum of £116,000 against Harsha Shah and Chandni Shah under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Valand was also subjected to a confiscation order for the sum of £5,000.

Harsha Shah, Chadni Shah and Sanjay Shah were sentenced to pay £41,000 in fines. All the defendants were ordered to pay £82,367 in costs. The total payable amounted to £244,367.

A confiscation order was not awarded against Sanjay Shah because the court was not persuaded that he had benefitted from his criminal activity in running the illegal, overcrowded HMO. 

However, the judge held that that he had played a key role in facilitating the illegal operation and fined him along with the other defendants.

A Brent council spokeswoman says: “We will use every legal power we have to come down hard on landlords and agents who exploit tenants in Brent. Every house in multiple occupation needs a licence, which helps to create decent living standards in the borough. We will track down landlords who do not licence their properties and rip off tenants by housing them in miserable conditions.”

During the raid in 2016, enforcement officers found some residents sharing a single bed with night workers swapping sleeping shifts with those who worked during the day. Four beds were discovered piled into the front room and three in each bedroom.  

Previous case law had indicated that confiscation orders could not be obtained in cases such as this. But Brent says councils from all over the country are now using Brent’s historic legal win as a precedent.