In the news on this week Property Investor’s Podcast, Russell and Alasdair discuss the London slum landlords who received a £244K fine from the local authorities.
The huge amount was handed down to a mother and daughter landlord team. The fine was delivered due the awful living conditions they had tenants living in. The landlords were making a reported £118K a year by housing 31 people in a five bedroom house.
After some quick mathematics, Russell and Alasdair were able to work out that the landlords were collecting around £6,000 in rent per week. Each person paying £195 per week.
Living conditions were so bad people were being housed in a wooden shed outside. It contained no heating or lighting and was covered with plastic and pallet sheets.
Alasdair believes that the landlords were offering a service that perhaps was in demand where people were happy to pay rent and share a living space with 31 other people.
If people are happy to live in these type of conditions it speaks to a much bigger issue that is clearly far beyond the landlords reach.
Could the government have stepped in? Where are the people living now? Russell questions. There clearly is an underlining problem that’s is the living conditions which makes it acceptable for people to live in such sub-standard living conditions.
