A Willesden landlord and his letting agents have been fined a whopping £20,000 and given criminal records for ignoring their tenants' pleas to improve horrific living conditions in a 'rotting' house.

Khalid Latif and his agents at PMC Management and Collections failed to licence his rental property or repair essentials, including the house's broken boiler.

Despite warnings from officers at Brent Council's Private Housing Services team, Latif did nothing to bring the Chandos Road property in Willesden Green up to standard.

The six tenants who lived in the four-bed property approached Brent Council to complain about the poor living conditions, which included no hot water or central heating, rotten and damp fittings and very few basic fire safety principles.

Watford-based Latif, who has owned the run-down property since 2000, was earning in excess of £2,500 per month from renting it out.

No repairs done in eight months of council visits

Brent Magistrates' Court heard that the council had repeatedly contacted both Mr Latif and PMC Management and Collections over the course of eight months and visited the house on several occasions to find no repairs had taken place.

They were both convicted of failing to licence the property after the case was taken to court.

The magistrates considered the hazards found in the house as "aggravated circumstances" and fined both Mr Latif and PMC Management and Collections £9,500, with £695 each in costs and £120 each in victim surcharge - a total of £20,630.

Cllr Harbi Farah, Brent Council's lead member for housing, said: "Unlicensed, unsafe properties like this are a danger to the entire community and it is unacceptable that anyone in London should have to rent a property that lacks basic facilities like hot water.

"The vast majority of landlords and lettings agents in Brent are honest and law abiding, but we take a zero tolerance approach to the minority who think they can treat their tenants like this.

"Our licensing scheme ensures that landlords maintain their rental properties to a decent standard. If you're a landlord, failure to licence your property could result in an unlimited fine and a criminal record."