Councils face a losing battle as they crack down on rogue agencies

Despite dawn raids and legal action, the number of unlicensed rentals in houses of multiple occupation continues to grow

It was before sunrise on a wintry morning that we gathered on a street corner in north London – a clutch of council officials, two police officers and myself. At a signal, the officials hammered on the doors of two tatty maisonettes above a surgery and waved warrants at the bleary faces that appeared in the windows.

This was a dawn raid on two of the myriad houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) being let without a licence in London and was part of a council crackdown on landlords and lettings agencies that flout the law to exploit tenants.

Continue reading...

from Property | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2WSmFQM
via IFTTT