The crackdown on beds in sheds accommodation continues after a council investigation exposed yet another landlord flouting the rules for profit.

A semi-detached house in Waltham Drive, Harrow, was exposed as a cash cow for a landlord that had sub-divided the property to accommodate 11 adults, with three tenants even paying more than £160 to each share a single room.

Council leader Susan Hall (Conservative) said: “We appear to be seeing the resurrection of East End tenement overcrowding in suburban London with levels of exploitation to match.

“Placing up three people in one room with little more than mattresses for décor and charging £160 a week for sets a sorry new standard for rip-off Britain."

Officers also discovered that the mains appliances in the house were being run from a customised power source next to the light fitting in the ceiling. No smoke alarms were installed in the house, and there was a large amount of rubbish left in sacks at the rear of the property .

Harrow Council officers are now investigating the property for being an unlicensed house of multiple occupation and for possible breaches of fire, electrical and gas safety regulations.

The tenants, who due to the property not being properly licensed are not known to the council, are also a drain on the local economy as they use services but do not pay council tax.

Ms Hall added: “This isn’t a victimless crime because the occupants of these beds in sheds lash-ups use council services, like rubbish collection, but the local authority doesn’t give us any grant for them – for the simple reason we don’t know they are there.”

The council is now seeking to formally interview the landlord, who is understood to live in Bradford, with possible repercussions including a formal caution or prosecution.

Harrow Council is currently investigating approximately 100 cases of unlicensed houses of multiple occupation.