Newham Council serves order on overcrowded flats

Its private sector housing team discovered 11 people living in a pair of two-storey flats, which had been knocked through, above two fast-food takeaways.

Hazards in the property included open live wiring next to sinks, a 20-foot drop from a demolished staircase protected by a flimsy board and a faulty smoke alarm covered with a plastic bag.

Officers served an emergency prohibition order on the six-bedroom property, which housed two families, one with three children aged six and one-year-old twins, and the other with a two-year-old child.

The landlord now faces prosecution for poor management and failure to license a house in multiple occupation.

‘This house was not fit for humans,’ said Andrew Billany, divisional director for housing and public protection at the council.

‘It was more like a rabbit warren with holes that passed for doors and stairs that led to nowhere.

‘We will not accept sub-standard or dangerous properties as Newham residents renting privately deserve nothing less than a decent place in which to live.’

Mr Billany added the council would prosecute private landlords who sub-let properties in a poor condition.

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