Labour MP defends himself as ‘renters champion’ after ‘poor conditions’ found in his properties
A Labour politician has defended himself as a “renters champion” despite flats he rents out reportedly found to be in poor condition.
Jas Athwal, the newly-elected MP for Ilford South, owns 15 rental flats, but some tenants have claimed they regularly have to clean their bathroom ceilings to remove mould.
In an investigation first reported by the BBC, one tenant in a block of seven flats in Seven Kings, Redbridge, said “there are ants everywhere” including on their child’s body and clothes.
Andrew Boff, a Conservative member of the London Assembly, who has also visited the properties, told Sky News that they were in “poor condition” and maintenance is to such a poor degree that it is “a risk to the residents”.
Responding to the investigation, Mr Athwal said he was “shocked” to hear of the reported condition of his properties, adding that they were managed by an agency which did not communicate any problems back to him.
“I am a renters champion,” he said, adding: “I’m proud to rent out homes with secure tenancies at below-market rents.
“I want every one of my tenants to have excellent accommodation; I’m shocked at the reported condition of a number of the properties and have asked the managing agent for an explanation and immediate action to rectify any issues.
“I know it’s my responsibility to have issues addressed as soon as they arise and have met with the property management company to understand failures in communication.
“I’m profoundly sorry that tenants have been let down and will be reviewing the property management and how matters are escalated going forward.”
Loose electrical cables in one of the seven flats
He said repairs and maintenance work on the properties will be done “swiftly”.
The discovery comes after Labour’s general election manifesto included a commitment to “transform” the experience of private renting.
A detached smoke detector
Formerly the leader of Redbridge Council, Mr Athwal is also required to have a selective property licence in order to rent out the block of seven flats – a system he introduced in 2017 when he was in charge of the council.
But Mr Athwal admitted that he had “recently seen an email” which said the licences were due to expire.
“I am in the process of renewing all licences,” he said.
“As council leader I implemented the most rigorous landlord licencing scheme in London in 2017, and expanded the scheme in 2023 and 2024 – the scheme would’ve been even stronger if Conservative housing secretaries had not repeatedly watered it down.
“In 2019, I led a campaign calling on government to abolish Section 21 evictions, further protecting tenants’ rights, which was again blocked by the Conservatives.”
It comes after the BBC found the council’s public licence register indicated that none of the seven properties had a licence.
Exposed electricals hanging from the ceiling
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Mr Boff also confirmed that there appears to be no record of any such licence – which he said landlords have to pay to receive – for the flats.
“He [Mr Athwal] calls himself a renters champion, and even introduced the licensing regime that apparently was trying to [get] some better deals for renters,” Mr Boff told Sky News.
“But it is a licensing regime that he didn’t avail himself of, whereas plenty of other people, plenty of other landlords in the London borough of Redbridge have had to pay money in order to get a licence so that they could let out their properties.”
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Mr Boff added that he feels Mr Athwal’s statement “sounds like bravado” and he would have respected him more if “he apologised to tenants for the poor service”.
“Unfortunately he is now trying to brazen this out, but I have seen the evidence and cannot understand how he can maintain the position that tenants are getting a good service from him.
“The landlord is responsible for the letting of the property. They take on an agent to make it easy for them, but they are the responsible people. If the managing agent is not doing their work, then that is the landlords’ responsibility.”
Mr Boff has called for both the Labour Party and Redbridge Council to investigate Mr Athwal.
Along with the 15 residential properties, the Labour politician also rents out three commercial properties, making him the biggest landlord in the House of Commons, according to Financial Times analysis of data from parliament’s register of members’ interests.
Hong Kong police arrested 12 people involved in a cross-border money laundering scheme that relied on crypto and over 500 stooge bank accounts to launder HK$118 million ($15 million), local news outlets reported.
The syndicate was dismantled on May 15, resulting in the arrest of nine men and three women in mainland China and Hong Kong.
The suspects allegedly recruited others to open bank accounts to receive proceeds from fraud cases, which were then converted into crypto at crypto exchange shops to launder the illicit funds, Hong Kong Commercial Daily reported on May 17.
The criminal organization rented a residential unit in the Hong Kong neighborhood of Mong Kok to plan and carry out its money laundering activities. Of the $15 million laundered, more than $1.2 million was linked to 58 reported fraud cases.
Caught in action
The bust followed police surveillance on May 15, when two recruits left the syndicate’s Mong Kok base — one visiting a bank, the other an ATM — before both went to convert the cash into crypto at a crypto exchange shop in the neighborhood of Tsim Sha Tsui.
Police arrested both individuals on the spot, seizing around HK$770,000 ($98,540) in cash before the funds could be laundered. The other 10 individuals, aged between 20 and 41, were arrested soon after.
Police seized approximately HK$1.05 million ($134,370) in cash, over 560 ATM cards, multiple mobile phones, bank documents and records related to crypto transactions.
Senior Inspector Tse Ka-lun of Hong Kong’s Commercial Crime Bureau claimed that the individuals often used bank accounts from their friends and family to launder the stolen funds.
Hong Kong reported a 12% year-on-year increase in fraud reports in 2024, with authorities making more than 10,000 fraud-related arrests. Of those arrests, around 73% involved individuals who held stooge bank accounts.
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The crackdown comes as Hong Kong continues to roll out its crypto regulatory framework to support local innovation, protect consumers and establish itself as a crypto hub.
Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission introduced new rules for crypto exchanges offering staking services in April. Two months earlier, the securities regulator rolled out a roadmap to improve market access, optimize compliance, expand product offerings, strengthen crypto infrastructure and foster relationships with industry players.
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Politics
Keir Starmer says closer EU ties will be good for UK jobs, bills and borders ahead of key talks
Sir Keir Starmer has said closer ties with the EU will be good for the UK’s jobs, bills and borders ahead of a summit where he could announce a deal with the bloc.
The government is set to host EU leaders in London on Monday as part of its efforts to “reset” relations post-Brexit.
A deal granting the UK access to a major EU defence fund could be on the table, according to reports – but disagreements over a youth mobility scheme and fishing rights could prove to be a stumbling block.
The prime minister has appeared to signal a youth mobility deal could be possible, telling The Times that while freedom of movement is a “red line”, youth mobility does not come under this.
His comment comes after Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, said on Friday work on a defence deal was progressing but “we’re not there yet”.
Sir Keir met European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen later that day while at a summit in Albania.
Ursula von der Leyen and Sir Keir had a brief meeting earlier this week. Pic: PA
If agreed, the deal will be the third in two weeks, following trade agreements with India and the US.
Sir Keir said: “First India, then the United States – in the last two weeks alone that’s jobs saved, faster growth and wages rising.
“More money in the pockets of British working people, achieved through striking deals not striking poses.
“Tomorrow, we take another step forward, with yet more benefits for the United Kingdom as the result of a strengthened partnership with the European Union.”
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Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said she is “worried” about what the PM might have negotiated.
Ms Badenoch – who has promised to rip up the deal with the EU if it breaches her red lines on Brexit – said: “Labour should have used this review of our EU trade deal to secure new wins for Britain, such as an EU-wide agreement on Brits using e-gates on the continent.
“Instead, it sounds like we’re giving away our fishing quotas, becoming a rule-taker from Brussels once again and getting free movement by the back door. This isn’t a reset, it’s a surrender.”
Moody’s credit rating agency downgraded the credit rating of the United States government from Aaa to Aa1, citing the rising national debt as the primary driver behind the reduction in creditworthiness.
According to the May 16 announcement from the rating agency, US lawmakers have failed to stem annual deficits or reduce spending over the years, leading to a growing national debt. The rating agency wrote:
“We do not believe that material multi-year reductions in mandatory spending and deficits will result from the current fiscal proposals under consideration. Over the next decade, we expect larger deficits as entitlement spending rises while government revenue remains broadly flat.”
The credit downgrade is only one degree out of the 21-notch rating scale used by the company to assess the credit health of an entity.
Despite the negative short to medium-term credit outlook, Moody’s maintained a positive outlook on the long-term health of the United States, citing its robust economy and the status of the US dollar as the global reserve currency as strengths, reflecting “balanced” lending risks.
Related: Asia’s wealthy shifting from US dollar to crypto, gold, China: UBS
Investors react to Moody’s US credit revision
Moody’s announcement drew mixed reactions from investors and market participants, leaving many unconvinced by the agency’s revised outlook.
Gabor Gurbacs, CEO and founder of crypto loyalty rewards company Pointsville, cited the rating agency’s previous credit assessments during times of financial stress as unreliable, signaling that the outlook was too optimistic.
“This is the same Moody’s that gave Aaa ratings to sub-prime mortgage-backed securities that led to the 2007-2008 financial crisis,” the executive wrote in a May 17 X post.
However, macroeconomic investor Jim Bianco argued that the recent Moody’s credit outlook does not reflect a real downgrade in the perception of US government creditworthiness and characterized the announcement as a “nothing burger.”
US government debt surpassed $36 trillion in January 2025 and shows no signs of slowing, despite recent efforts by Elon Musk and others to reduce federal spending and curtail the national debt.
As the debt climbs and investors lose faith in US government securities, bond yields will spike, causing the debt service payments to go up, further inflating the national debt.
This creates a vicious cycle as the government will have to entice investors with ever-greater yields to incentivize them to purchase government debt.
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