Officers from a local council simultaneously staged 10 dawn raids on properties owned by unlicensed landlords.

All the terraced homes, in Slough, were owned by the same landlords who had not obtained licences, even though the properties were HMOs in a selective licensing area.

Of the 10 properties, the majority were found to have problems with gas or electric supplies, two properties were found to be undeclared houses in multiple occupation, another had an issue with design of a kitchen in an enclosed space and another has been deemed unsafe to live in and emergency work has to take place this morning.

“Without a landlord licence there is no guarantee a home is safe and, as we have found this morning, there could be multiple problems meaning tenants, in this case including children, are being put at risk. The landlord of these houses has not been fulfilling his duty to his tenants and now could be taken to court and substantially fined” says a council spokesman.