Council helps students secure record award for rent repayment from landlords

The London Borough of Camden has helped six students secure an order at the Residential Property Tribunal Service (RPTS) requiring their landlords to repay £39,000 in rent.

The local authority said it believed that the award was the highest made so far by the RPTS.

Camden Council had prosecuted the landlords – Abdul Kalam and his wife Jahanara Begum – for failing to obtain a house in multiple occupation (HMO) licence for the property, a four-bedroom home in Castlehaven Road, Kentish Town.

Kalam and Begum were fined and ordered to pay costs by Highbury Magistrates Court on 20 June 2012.

According to the local authority, the property did not have adequate safety provision, including fire precautions. The defendants had bought the property off the council in 2003 under the Right to Buy legislation.

After the conviction of Kalam and Begum, the students were entitled to apply to the Residential Property Tribunal for repayment of their rent.

An environmental health officer from Camden Council presented the case at the tribunal on behalf of the students, who gave evidence.

The London Rent Assessment Panel of the RPTS awarded the six students £6,500 each, a total of £39,000, to cover the rent they paid whilst they lived there for the academic year 2011-12.

The landlords have 28 days to pay the money.

Cllr Julian Fulbrook, cabinet councillor and member for housing at Camden, said: “Camden Council will use all our available powers to continue to crack down on unscrupulous landlords and make accommodation in Camden safer for tenants.”