Labour MP defends himself as ‘renters champion’ after ‘poor conditions’ found in his properties

Published

3 months ago

August 30, 2024

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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.”

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.

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.

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.”

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.