A London landlord has been ordered to pay more than £90,000 after Brent Council prosecuted him for cramming at least 18 tenants into a ‘dangerously overcrowded’ Wembley HMO.

According to the council, Sanjay Patel’s three-storey property on Wyld Way (pictured) was operating far beyond the limits of its licence, which allowed a maximum of seven occupants in six bedrooms and one self-contained unit.

An investigation began after the Metropolitan Police raised concerns about conditions at the property. During the resulting inspection, housing officers discovered tenants living in cramped conditions with locked windows and no working fire alarms.

No electricity

Officers also reported finding a couple with a four-month-old baby living in an undeclared outbuilding without either heating or electricity.

Patel, who had already ignored several improvement notices, was prosecuted at Willesden Magistrates’ Court, where he was fined £87,000.

The court also ordered him to pay a £2,000 victim surcharge and £2,788 in prosecution costs, taking the total financial penalty to more than £90,000.

These tenants were subjected to appalling living conditions.”

Cllr. Fleur Donnelly-Jackson (pictured), Cabinet Member for Housing at Brent Council, told My London: “These tenants were subjected to appalling living conditions, but this successful prosecution shows our firm stance against landlords who put profit above safety.

“It sends a very clear message that we will not tolerate landlords exploiting tenants and providing unsafe living conditions.”

Patel is now facing possible further action and could be banned from operating rental properties, with a hearing at the Residential Property Tribunal scheduled for April 30.