16 August 2023 , 15:32
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A 'slum landlord' has been banned from letting properties in England for the next five years after squeezing 40 tenants into a four-bedroom home in London.
Jaydipkumar Rameshchandra Valand, of Wembley Central, was one of four landlords found guilty of raking in £360,000 by packing dozens of people into the semi-detached property in Brent.
It comes after he was hit with a council's first ever banning order for committing multiple housing offences. A judge issued the 48-year-old with the ban after Brent Council was able to prove he was responsible for committing a string of housing-related offences across the borough, dating back to 2018.
The Napier Road property with the back garden shack (Brent Council / SWNS)Enforcement officers discovered one of the Napier Road tenants living in a lean-to shack made out of pallets and tarpaulin with no lighting or heating. Although he was hit with a £5,000 confiscation order, Mr Valand went on to exploit even more vulnerable tenants, reports MyLondon.
In January 2022, he was found guilty of breaching housing regulations at a property in Wembley Hill Road. Mr Valand was found to be pocketing £1,400 a month from tenants without tenancy agreements and who were living in unsafe conditions, including fire safety violations, accumulating waste and disrepairs. He was fined £30,000 and ordered to pay £3,347 in costs by Willesden Magistrates Court.
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The landlord has been slapped with Brent Council’s first ever banning order (Brent Council / SWNS)Brent Council officers were also able to demonstrate to the court that Mr Valand did in fact own a business in the UK, despite him declaring otherwise. He was ordered to pay fines and costs totalling £6,190 for this. Councillor Muhammed Butt, the leader of Brent Council, said: “This is the first ban we have issued since Brent was given the powers in April 2018 to ban serial rogue landlords under the Housing and Planning Act 2016. If Jaydipkumar Valand breaches his five-year ban, he will face a prison sentence.”
He added: “Brent Council takes a zero-tolerance policy against rogue landlords such as this, and we will use everything in our powers to hold them to account to safeguard our vulnerable residents. The new selective licensing scheme that we introduced on August 1 is part of our commitment to protecting renters’ rights and securing a decent standard of living for all residents. Landlords who rent out properties in Dollis Hill, Harlesden & Kensal Green and Willesden Green are now legally required to have a property licence.”