Rogue east London landlord fined £5k for keeping mother and children in 'unsafe' home

Havering Town Hall - (LDRS)

A Romford landlord was fined more than £5,000 after keeping a mother and her two children in an “unsafe” home.

Treldon Connell was ordered to pay £5,335 after failing to fix serious issues in his Kingsbridge Road property.

He was taken to court by Havering Council after ignoring a formal improvement notice, which ordered him to urgently get rid of mould and damp, repair dangerous electrics and deal with internal and external structural issues.

Some of the issues were classified as Category 1 – high-risk and needing mandatory action.

Connell was fined a total of £5,335.05 at Barkingside Magistrates’ Court, comprising £2,500 in fines, legal costs of £1,835.05, and a surcharge of £1,000 for funding victim support services.

Helen Oakerbee, Havering’s director of planning and public protection, said the successful prosecution was “an example of us cracking down on irresponsible landlords taking advantage of families and individuals by providing poorly maintained properties”.

“We will always take the strongest action against landlords who breach their licence or fail to take action to make their properties safe for residents to live in,” she added.

Havering Council has been regulating landlords more strictly amid a tighter focus on housing in the borough, which is in short supply.

Last month, the town hall launched new schemes aimed at targeting poor conditions in HMOs (houses in multiple occupation), reducing antisocial behaviour connected to poor housing, and enforcing the responsibility of landlords.

Before the scheme was introduced, Romford landlord Shamsul Huda was fined an eye-watering £33,000 for breaching two prohibition orders and failing to licence an HMO.