Landlord made £40k a year in rent from property with tree growing through wall

 Up to eight people were housed in “appalling” conditions in a former ‘shortlife’ property that had been illegally converted into flats, Lambeth Council has discovered.

 

Council officers who took back possession of the property, in Rectory Gardens, Clapham, found that it had been transformed from a three-bedroomed home to a HMO, with eight rooms – pulling in an estimated £40,000 a year in rent.

 

A large branch from a nearby tree was growing into one of the rooms – and the occupants were using electricity from a cable passed through a hole drilled in the branch. 

 

The house did not have clear and suitable emergency exits. All eight occupants had to share a single bath and toilet.

 

Council experts estimate that, at a market rate of £100 a week per room, the “landlord” could have made £40,000 a year from the property, which actually belongs to Lambeth Council.

 

The terraced house was a “shortlife” property, one of 1,200 licensed to housing associations and cooperatives on a short-term basis in the 1970s, on the clear understanding that they would be returned to the council.

 

However, many fell into the hands of unlawful owners. Lambeth Council are in the process of claiming properties back.

http://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/news_features/Landlord-made-%C2%A340k-a-year-in-rent-from-property-with-tree-growing-through-wall