Council housing enforcement officers and police entered the property, located in Wembley, around 06.00 a.m. on 23rd May after receiving a tip off from neighbouring residents.

The officers found 11 people sleeping in every room bar the kitchen and bathroom and were reportedly disgusted by the conditions the tenants were living in. The property inspection found a polystyrene ceiling in the kitchen on the verge of collapse, no fire alarm system and no fire safety doors and damp and black mould "covered the walls and ceilings in the rooms."

The tenants also told the council officers that they had been paying their landlord a combined rent of £2000. The property did not have the legally required HMO licence.

Cllr. Promise Knight, Cabinet Member for Housing, Homelessness and Renters' Security, said "It is shocking and horrifying that rogue landlords make a profit from keeping people in dangerous and slum-like conditions like this. People in vulnerable circumstances tend not to know what rights they have as renters. Rogue landlords who exploit their tenants' vulnerability will find themselves facing hefty fines and possibly a criminal conviction."

Photographs of the property conditions can be accessed here at the Brent and Kilburn Times.

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