Cllr Peter Golds is a councillor in Tower Hamlets. He has served as a London councillor for 25 years. He is a former Treasurer of the Conservative Councillor’s Association and active within the Local Government Association.
Between 1946-49, Stepney Borough Council built the Tarling Estate on the famous Cable Street in the heart of London’s east end. The estate was named after Charles Tarling, a founder member of the LCC in 1889 and designed to re-house victims of World War two bombing. It still stands today, although it has been renovated over the years. Early in the morning of the 5th March a fire broke out in a top floor, two-bedroom flat in Maddocks House. Seventeen men were rescued from the property, but 41-year-old Mizanur Rahman later died from smoke inhalation. Before the fire a neighbour counted twenty-two beds in the flat including bunk beds in the kitchen. Those rescued were all of Bangladeshi origin and had a variety of passports from Bangladesh, France, Italy, and Spain. All have been given help by the council. It is believed that other residents who were present simply left and went elsewhere.
The flat is a leasehold property owned by a resident of the Borough. The estate is managed by Tower Hamlets Homes, the council’s arm’s length housing organisation. Last August the property was registered by the current owner as an Additional House of Multiple Occupation (HMO), the owners paying a registration fee of £565 for the flat to be occupied by between three and four people who do not form a single-family unit but share common amenities. But it now appears that the Council knew it was being used for multiple tenants in 2021 and residents complained repeatedly from November 2021 about issues with the flat including the number of occupants.
These complaints were raised by the Tarling West Tenants Association and sent to the council, the London Fire Brigade, estate caretakers, contractors employed by the council, and individual elected members of the Council. The residents of the flat immediately below the fire-damaged property repeatedly complained about water leaks from the bathroom and lavatory into their homes. A written response to them from the council said:
“I would like to remind you that it is not THH responsibility to repair leaseholders’ properties due to leaks that they have caused.”
This appeared to completely ignore the fact that the premises were occupied by around twenty people whilst licensed by the council for just three to four residents. One letter from the council stated the property “is not in a good state with an excessive number of people living in it.” Despite this, the situation continued.
The correspondence from the TRA regarding this appalling “doss house” is long, detailed, and indicates an extraordinary degree of buck-passing. As there has been a fatality at these premises, there will be an inquest and hopefully that will be when the full details will be made public.
The owner is claiming that they observed the licence and that tenants were “subletting” without permission. This is not born out by the tenants or indeed neighbours. With 20 people resident in the flat the monthly income would be £8,000; substantially more than that which would have been received from three to four residents.
So-called HMOs are an attempted solution to the nation’s housing crisis. In many locations, particularly in inner cities, they are an opportunity for dubious people to make a great deal of money out of human need.
In 2017 I was approached by two young men living on bunk beds in a tiny room in an overcrowded flat. This room was then realising over £750 per month for the owner and that was before the other spaces in the flat were considered.
Elsewhere on the Isle of Dogs we have one family who appear to own around 100 properties many of which have been converted to HMOs and have dramatically changed parts of the ward.
The effect has been to achieve an extended student facility by stealth, in a small square, to the detriment of neighbours in the adjoining streets. Residents have noted that the gardens of once individual properties have been combined and believe that this development should be considered commercial as opposed to single properties.
In January 2021 my former colleague Andrew Wood and I proposed a motion to the Council to introduce some order to the growth of HMOs. We researched Government changes to regulations and how these had been implemented by other local authorities. We proposed regulations similar to those implemented by Labour controlled Newcastle upon Tyne Council. However, the then Labour controlled council amended the motion removing the proposals. Before the start of the debate five Labour councillors declared an interest in HMO properties and took no part in the debate and vote. Two other Labour councillors present declared extensive property portfolios that were not HMOs.
This has left the borough with a free for all on HMOs, where 6,000 are already registered. There are many decent landlords who operate well run properties. Sadly, there are also those who exploit the situation and are complicit in bringing misery to their tenants and the wider locality. Did the landlord of 18 Maddocks use the licence for 3-4 tenants in preparing their tax return or did the landlord declare the £8,000 per month that was being raised from this flat?
Ten days after the Maddocks House fire there was a regular meeting of Tower Hamlets Council. The Agenda, as required, had been circulated prior to the meeting but members wished to raise and debate the issue of Maddocks House. An emergency motion was introduced by the administration. The Labour group wished to raise an alternative emergency motion to debate the Government’s immigration policy. The result was a long adjournment followed by a debate as to which motion was more relevant. Councillors voted to debate the local problem in which a resident had died, about which the council has involvement as opposed to discussing a parliamentary matter. As in 2021 a number of councillors absented themselves from the debate and vote.
Rogue landlords that make money on misery need to be rooted out. Under Article 4 of the 2021 directions, any person seeking an HMO licence will need to seek planning permission for this purpose.
An Article 4 Direction allows local authorities to remove permitted development in some circumstances and must be accompanied by a plan that clearly shows the area that is subject to the direction, and the extent of the area needs to be based upon evidence.
Elsewhere councils are aiming to manage HMOs better by improving residents’ standard of living and maintaining mixed communities. This is due to studies that show that a concentration of HMOs can be associated with the following issues:
It should no longer be voluntary for councils to implement Article 4 directions; they should become mandatory. Furthermore there must be far tighter rules on the inspection of HMOs. Councils receive substantial sums from landlords which are ultimately paid for by renters, but it is unclear what they get in return.
It is possible to stand on the balcony of Maddocks House by the blackened entrance to number 18, within sight is the Canary Wharf complex, one of the world’s great financial institutions, close to the centre of the greatest and wealthiest city in Europe. Yet here, some twenty men were living in untold filth and squalor, resulting in the death of Mizanur Rahman who had only been in the country for a few days.
I have no doubt that the inquest will prove to be shocking. What it has to do is call out the buck-passing that resulted in the squalor of the death trap on the Tarling Estate.