As we’ve discussed previously, the potential fire risks for those living in Houses of Multiple Occupation are significantly higher than for other types of accommodation. But what happens when the HMO is completely illegal?
One answer seems to be: “Cable Street Studios, Limehouse, East London”.
As reported by the BBC, several of the commercial units in the building are being rented out as if they were residential flats, and in one case, a unit is operating as a hostel. The BBC footage shows the hostel crammed with beds apparently sold at GB pound 10 (US$13) per night to desperate tenants unable to afford properly equipped accommodation. But not only do they endure no heating, proper kitchen facilities, toilets, or running water, the fire risks are horrendous.
“Potential death trap” was the description given to the conditions by Arnold Tarling of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) when shown secretly filmed footage by the BBC. “People trying to escape wouldn’t be able to get past each other and therefore they would be trapped within the building very quickly,” he warned. The footage showed a makeshift kitchen in the escape route of a room sleeping up to twenty people.
Tower Hamlets Council says that it’s investigating the allegations.
It’s clear that the property crisis is fueling demand for the lowest grade of accommodation. And there are, of course, plenty who are prepared to take advantage. Remember the “beds in sheds” story last year?
The London Fire Brigade warned that in a three-year period, it had logged 235 fires in buildings unfit for habitation, and that these led to four fatalities and 45 serious injuries.
The term “beds in sheds,” and the investigative footage shown by the BBC, gives a clear vision of garages and sheds at the ends of city gardens, converted into squalid living accommodation. If nothing else, at least the travel distances to a “place of safety” were short.
But now it seems that the conditions may be even worse for some living in unheated, multi-storey commercial units with few toilets and washing facilities, and a long and tortuous means of escape.
Last August, the government announced a “major clampdown on rogue landlords to bring an end to suburban shanty towns that trap vulnerable people in dangerous living conditions.”
It said that councils across the country had been allocated GB pound 1.8 million towards dealing with the problem. There is a range of actions councils can take to deal with rogue landlords, including work with the police and UK Border Agency to tackle linked criminal behaviour (the properties are often found to be occupied by illegal immigrants). Councils are encouraged to take effective action against landlords by making sure their earnings are detailed to the courts so that deterrent levels of fine can be issued.
A new national taskforce was set up in 2012 between Whitehall departments, the police, the UK Border Agency, and local government. Following this, there are certainly signs that some London Boroughs are actively working on the problem. Hounslow, for example reported in May that it had so far investigated 1000 properties.
Having said all this, while the headlines have been about tenant welfare, just a little digging seems to reveal a greater interest in illegal immigration. So things may not be as they seem.
A quick look across the globe, and the problem of overcrowded sub-standard/illegal accommodation in cities is certainly not unique to the UK. It’s just that for us, it’s a problem we thought we’d more or less seen the back of. Or have we simply deluded ourselves?
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As long as the perpetrators of any illegal activity believe they can ‘get away with it’ – at least for as long to make enough money to cover any fine by a large margin, they will continue to take such risks with their tennants’ lives. Only if they kill someone is their any liklihood of them going to jail – but they just do not see that potential we appreciate as fire professionals.
You’re right that there’s a blinkered approach from criminals, and indeed from others, that ‘it’ll never happen to me’.