Why Redbridge should have fined Jas Athwal by now

 Redbridge Council have published a guide on when to fine landlords for sub-standard rental properties it called "Private Sector Enforcement Policy" The guidance is at Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy

I guide above is silent about the penalty for not holding a landlord licence, which Jas Athwal has admitted at a BBC site. I quote 

"The Labour MP also admitted that his flats did not have the correct property licences under a scheme he introduced as the leader of Redbridge Council." (1)

However the Redbridge Council website is explicit that not to have to a landlord licence is an offence I quote (2) 

"Penalties for not having a Licence 

Operating a rented property without a licence is an offence. The Council can issue you with a Financial Penalty of up to £30,000 or if prosecuted in court the fine can be unlimited.

Additionally, tenants in a unlicensed property can reclaim from you up to 12 months’ rent through a Rent Repayment Order (RRO) and your ‘section 21’ eviction powers are also removed by operating without a licence." ENDS QUOTE

I use the points system from the https://www.redbridge.gov.uk/media/11708/psh-enforcement-policy-2023-final.pdf which suggests Jas Athwal and or his agent should be looking at a substantial fine of up to £30,000. However, it appears the Council is refusing to act against Jas Athwal which suggests a charge of misconduct in public offence is a possibility. There may be misconduct in public office case against senior officers for not investigating Jas Athwal and/or failing to fine him. However, before referring the matter to the police, a lot of supportive documentation will need to be published. I am pursuing documents at my "What do they know" page, but this is likely to be a lengthy process. The first photo below is my estimate of the financial benefit to Jas Athwal for not not having landlord licences and the savings incurred for not maintaining his properties. Along with my estimate of the total number of points which I estimate to be 100. Of course we need to see the Council reports with inspections and recommendations. However, the Council refuse to confirm or deny whether any investigation into Jas Athwal has taken place. My argument is that the Council should have inspected all of Jas's 15 properties when the BBC story broke, but it is unknown at time of writing whether any inspections have taken place.




This is my scoring of severity of offence per pic below:



My ranking on culpability is below: There is broad range here because a local agent gets a lot more than a national agent.



The harm category also has a broad range. This is because the council would need to inspect Jas's properties to discover if any harm done. Had anyone fallen down stairs or had the black mould been a contributory factor to a GP or hospital visit? The ant infestation reported in the BBC report do not appear to carry disease, although they must be distressing to live with and poor for tenants mental health.  


The punishment points appear to require a range too as without more information is is difficult to make a judgment. A moderate or serious offence seems fair until we know how many warnings were given.


Deterrence is important, it seems a large fine is appropriate to deter other large landlords from not having licences and allowing their properties to become sub-standard.



It seems Jas Athwal cannot expect his agent to take the penalty for not having a licence and escape any sanction. This is taken from the Redbridge site at Redbridge - Scheme 3 and 4 Selective Licence Conditions


The test case for Redbridge to prosecute a landlord for not having a licence appears to be Landlord wins court battle with Redbridge Council over fine | East London and West Essex Guardian Series

It sets out the tests for a successful prosecution.

1) Did the landlord know he needed a licence? Obviously Jas Athwal did know

2) Did they have more than one property? Jas has 15

3) Was the property in good condition? No it was no 


 (1) Jas Athwal: Labour MP 'profoundly sorry' over state of properties - BBC News

(2) Redbridge - Do I need a Property Licence? (Landlords and Agents)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jas Athwal MP and the Rogue Landlord Allegations: A Year On, Still No Transparency

It’s now been almost a year since Jas Athwal MP was accused of being a rogue landlord following a BBC investigation in August 2024. The investigation revealed serious issues in several properties linked to Athwal, including unlicensed rentals, ant infestations, and dangerous black mold. Since the report, Athwal has publicly shifted blame onto his property agent—an individual he still refuses to name. As concerned residents and members of the public, we have every right to ask: Has Jas Athwal been fined? Was he investigated at all? Why the continued silence? A Trail of Freedom of Information Requests Since the initial report, several Freedom of Information (FOI) requests have been submitted to Redbridge Council in an effort to determine whether Athwal has been held accountable. Unfortunately, these requests have revealed more about the opacity of the system than about the case itself. The first FOI response claimed that the council held no paper or electronic records indicating whether ...
Read more

David Lammy MP, Angela Rayner MP, Rachel Reeves MP and Cllr Michael Situ were all investigated: Why not Jas Athwal MP?

 I sent this to   Claire Hamilton and Councillor Rai yesterday. I will write more after the 27th November. Dear Claire Hamilton and Councillor Rai   Recent developments suggest Redbridge should carry out and publish the outcome of any investigation into whether Jas Athwal MP should have been fined for not having a landlord licence and his sub-standard flats. I rely on breaches of the Nolan code which led to investigations into the conduct of David Lammy MP, Angela Rayner MP, Rachel Reeves MP and Cllr Michael Situ.     Cllr Situ's lack of a licence has led to a report in the Evening Standard which stated - “ The matter has also been referred to the council’s Monitoring Officer for investigation.” So far Redbridge is refusing to say if an investigation into Mr Athwal has taken place following the Joe Pike BBC story last year.  This is unacceptable; there should have two investigations, one by the monitoring officer and another by your landlord enforcemen...
Read more

Report from 10 Downing trip

Image
 Photos from yesterday Letter delivered Video of Cllr Noor outside number 10 This is Andy Walker below: The text is below The tests set out by Judge Martin Rodger QC  in a case dated 29 th July 2021 involving Redbridge Council suggest Jas Athwal should have been fined by now for not having a landlord licence and the sub-standard condition of his flats. However, Mr Athwal does not appear to have been fined. Residents are pursuing Redbridge Council for key documents via freedom of information as to what has gone on. However, the Council is either ignoring requests or taking a very long time to reply. This is unacceptable as it could take years to find out the truth. So Sir Keir, I ask you to investigate this matter because if there has a been a cover up it could be mean the criminal offence of misconduct in public office has taken place and it must be right that this issue is resolved as soon as possible.
Read more