Just Which Borough Could They be Talking About?

In a BBC report, it says the following, “In the middle of the night, says Maria, groups of people can sometimes be seen moving into houses in her neighbourhood, far more than would seem to fit comfortably in the Victorian terraced homes.

“Each of these houses has 10 to 15 people living inside, she estimates. Maria, an architect, suspects they are being illegally rented. "They're everywhere," she says.”

In the distant past, when Newham had a highly effective licencing and enforcement programme, illegal over-occupation and substandard housing  were vigorously challenged. Sub-standard landlords were known to be leaving the borough for less aggressive councils elsewhere in London. And the standards for Newham residents in the private sector saw their conditions improve.

Now we have Cllr Amar Virdee with the cabinet responsibility. Perhaps one of the minority council members, or even a Labour member, might ask Cllr Virdee, why is the situation for private sector tenants getting worse?

Of course, it could be that he has no-one left to enforce either the licencing regulations of the law. Or it could be that he hasn’t been bothered to keep an eye on the problem.

It’s not as if no-one knew about it. The report states that Maria contacted the BBC “after spending years complaining about these homes to her local authority in east London, Newham Council.” The BBC however, “began investigating - and found a widespread black-market rental sector where people are forced to live in unsafe spaces.”

The matter was investigated by BBC reporter Gopal Virdee, but we’re pretty sure he is no relation to the cabinet member. Why is it that a TV station is uncovering this and not our local council? 

Virdee, from the BBC, not the council, found “Photos, videos and testimony from the people living in several properties like these (which) showed unsanitary and overcrowded homes, with adults sleeping on bare mattresses in bunk beds, contending with black mould, rats and, in some cases, conditions that proved to be deadly”.

In what was once the flagship borough driving improvement in private sector lettings, the BBC state that “In part of Newham, where there are only 75 licensed properties, he found more than 700 possible HMOs.”

Is it time for Cllr Virdee to consider his position?