THESE horrifying photographs show the squalid properties owned by rogue landlords including one bathroom with a toilet in the shower. A collection of rental properties in Oxford have been labelled the worst in the country after inspectors found garden sheds were being used as bedrooms. Inspectors used an infrared plane to find beds in sheds to […]
THESE horrifying photographs show the squalid properties owned by rogue landlords including one bathroom with a toilet in the shower.
A collection of rental properties in Oxford have been labelled the worst in the country after inspectors found garden sheds were being used as bedrooms.
Inspectors used an infrared plane to find beds in sheds to catch dozens of rogue landlords keeping tenants in “appalling” conditions.
The “sheds” are outbuildings which have been constructed without planning permission and then rented out by landlords who make a profit.
Oxford City Council has now revealed a catalogue of the worst homes they’ve seen including a room with a view – of a brick wall.
One tenant was forced to rent a property which had a toilet and sink inside a shower while another was given a mattress in a shed which classed as a bedroom.
Another example was a garden filled with junk.
The workers for Oxford City Council found them while inspecting houses in multiple occupancy homes (HMOs) with three or more tenants who aren’t family members.
We have found countless examples across Oxford of homes where even these most basic of standards have not been met
Oxford City Council's deputy leader Linda Smith
The shocking discoveries have led the authority to launch a new £71,000 scheme to crack down on all privately rented homes.
Other nightmare homes in the city included a property with a huge hole in the floor one room and smashed windows left with shards of glass poking out.
Since 2017, the council has issued 57 financial penalties to rogue landlords totalling £356,411
Deputy leader of Oxford City Council Linda Smith said: “All we are proposing is to level the playing field so that every landlord in Oxford should have to be a fit and proper person and that their properties have the required certificates to show that they are safe for tenants.
“We have found countless examples across Oxford of homes where even these most basic of standards have not been met.
“Vulnerable tenants have been left in illegal and dangerous conditions.
“Rogue landlords are not a small minority in Oxford – currently the landlords that own 40% of privately rented properties in Oxford are breaking the law by not having an EPC certificate.”
The new scheme was funded by Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government last week.
The council plans to find more rogue landlords by building an algorithm to identify properties in the private rented sector that are unlicensed.
