Buy to let owner ‘stripped roof of home with 25 tenants living there’

A rogue landlord who housed more than 25 tenants in a rundown property has been found guilty of serious housing and safety breaches, and fined £25,500.

Salah Ali's three-storey house in Kilburn, north London, became a nightmare for neighbours who complained to the council about its overflowing rubbish bins creating a breeding ground for rodents.

Willesden magistrates court has now found Ali guilty of housing breaches and a failure to licence. 

Brent council was able to prove that he had been receiving rent paid by the tenants living in the overcrowded, unlicensed HMO, although he had not been managing the property himself.

Ali, of Wembley, was ordered to pay a £25,500 fine.

In addition, it’s been revealed that in July 2018 the Fire Brigade was called to stop a leak at the house caused by workers removing the property's roof while tenants were still living inside. 

Council enforcement officers visited the property following this incident and delivered a prohibition to rent order to Ali, due to the extent of the unsafe conditions.

A spokeswoman for the local authority says: "A landlord who receives money from tenants is responsible for ensuring that his or her property is licensed and meeting the requirements of that licence. The tenants who were living in Mr Ali's property in Willesden Lane had to suffer unsafe conditions until the council stepped in."