Council brands lettings agency “dodgy” and issues big fine

The agency and landlord responsible for letting a two-bedroom flat in Dagenham have been found guilty in court for providing extremely poor living conditions for tenants and must pay over £22,000 between them.

In a statement headlined ‘Dodgy landlord and estate agent ordered to pay thousands in court’ the Barking and Dagenham council in London says its officers visited a property and found a string of issues including only one working heater, no smoke detection alarms, broken lights throughout including an unprotected light in the bathroom, severe infestation of bed bugs and evidence that children have been bitten, and a front door so badly damaged that it could not be secured.

The housing enforcement officer also found “huge issues in the kitchen” where all the cupboards were in disrepair, the oven wasn’t working and the plug for the oven was poorly positioned and secured with duct tape, which would have increased the risk of a fire.

Damp and mould were also present throughout the property, especially in and around the bathroom window and on the ceiling.

The landlord, Kehinde Wilson Gbadegesin, and Phil Davies Estate Agents were issued with multiple notices to take action and resolve the issues. However, these were ignored, and no changes were made.

As a result, the case was taken to Barking Magistrates Court and both the landlord and agent were found guilty in their absence.

A council spokesperson says: “Nobody should be living in such unacceptable conditions, and I’m really pleased that someone had the guts to report them to us.

"We don’t stand for this sort of behaviour from landlords and will continue to come down hard on anyone who refuses to provide quality living conditions for their tenants. I hope these fines send a warning to any other landlords who are not obeying our rules.”

The judge ordered Gbadegesin to pay a total of £11,223.50 and Philip Davies Estate Agents were ordered to pay £11,000.