Forum Topic

The One Show and Immigration Bust in Avenue Road

Watching the One Show and have just watched the article on the immigration bust down Avenue Road in what was the Carpet Warehouse opposite the Surgery. This happened last week when I was going off to work. Interesting I always thought something dodgy was going on in there as i always saw loads of people going in there on my way home from work.

Tony Crumpton ● 3879d50 Comments

Yeah we know exactly what you are implying

Gary Sinclair ● 3864d

You both miss my point, but that's not unusual.The commonality of characteristics of many of these landlords is exactly the reason why these matters are not properly investigated, and followed up regularly with serious fines to deter.That is why YOU have to suffer.Do you not think this problem could be sorted very quickly if there was even half a will to do so? There is a reason/s very little, and often nothing, is done.I have no desire to enter into Forum Ping Pong so will say no more, the majority of readers know exactly what I am saying.

Brian May ● 3864d

If Brian May is so convinced about the ethnicity of the landlord, why doesn't he spend £3 and get a copy himself.  Or maybe he should just stick to badgers (!).  The ethnicity of the landlords is totally irrelevant and this type of stereotyping is exactly what happened in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s.  It also diverts attention from what is the real issue here, i.e. the failure by our local authority to whom we ALL pay council tax to do anything to protect vulnerable people from rogue landlords, despite having plenty of ammunition.

Anne Brown ● 3864d

The residents directly affected by this issue are not  interested in the nationality/ethnicity of the owners.  Rachmann existed in the 50's and slum landlords existed well before then and they continue to exist up to the present day. What we want is to see housing law enforced and indeed strengthened regardless of an owners background.

Gary Sinclair ● 3864d

One swallow does not a summer make.And, with the utmost respect Mr Sinclair, I will believe the ownership when I see the Land Registry entry.

Brian May ● 3865d

This is so wide off the mark. The carpet factory, 116 Avenue Road, is actually owned by an Englishman. So talk about surnames is a bit of a red herring and irrelevant in this case and I believe the same is true for Heathfield Road. It's the lack of enforcement action by the Council that should concern us. That said I think Councillor Josh Blacker has been excellent and is definitely on the case. And yes we neighbours of these properties have been raising our concerns about the rubbish etc for some time.

Gary Sinclair ● 3865d

Couldn't agree more Mr Iddon, couldn't agree more.I believe that Mr Taylor is a Local Politician, so I understand his position, he probably believes he has to be seen to be neutral and "fair" if he wants future votes and not to be kicked out of his own party. But that, of course, is the problem, as everyone knows. We are not allowed to voice opinions on certain issues whilst said issues fester uncontrolled, and if we do speak up we are told to shut up and either accused or insinuated against.Yes, why weren't the massive piles of refuse bags noticed by someone and reported on, is the landlord part of some sort of "brotherhood."?The residents of Acton are not dumb nor stupid, we're just gagged by the stupidity of Political Correctness and apologist Politicians from all the major parties who completely fail to understand or appreciate the zeitgeist.

Brian May ● 3865d

Surely the neighbours complained about the pile of black bags?

Keith Iddon ● 3865d

Looking at the photograph posted by Phil Taylor and the enormous pile of black bags placed outside the property. .....surely the refuse collectors should have alerted someone in the Council that something untoward was going on inside the property?  Comment please from local councillors please.....who must have passed by the property on numerous occasions.

Dee Cook ● 3865d

You are correct Brian that there is definitely a pattern that has emerged over the last few years. It is no co-incidence that the countries of origin of most of these landlords have, on the whole, scant regard for the due process of providing decent housing for tenants or a whole range of other things I shouldn't wonder, and are nowhere near as regulated as we are here. I rather think it's therefore a problem of culture and of some people trying to both ignore the law and to drag us down, in their own small way,into accepting the poor standards that they are used to providing.They should be banned from being landlords imo.

Keith Iddon ● 3865d

Oh, I don't know, a sector of our Society clearly needs educating that this is not acceptable, or tolerated, let alone legal.But then, they consistently demonstrate they couldn't care less.

Brian May ● 3865d

Brian,It is probably not useful, constructive or fair to lump people together by what their surnames look like.  Let's just go after the wrong 'uns.  Whoever they are.

Phil Taylor ● 3865d

And why do the owners of these slums and/or beds in sheds invariably have the same types of surnames?But we're not allowed to talk about that are we..........

Brian May ● 3865d

You only have to look at the image on Streetview to wonder why the local councillors weren't on to this much quicker.  Look at the pile of rubbish bags.  Dead give away. 

Phil Taylor ● 3866d

To get details of the owner, you just go to the Land Registry website and request official copies of the title.  You  need the full address and postcode and it will cost £3.  It can be downloaded immediately and will give you the name and address of the registered proprietor (owner) of the property.  However, it will probably be an offshore company.

Anne Brown ● 3866d

Totally agree, the stabbing incident was really horrific an scary, and why was 144 the first to be raided? Because its opposite a nursery. The PR conscious Council. All I can say is that many people (neighbours and the exploited tenants)have suffered a great deal and that greed and indifference have reigned. Lets hope things really get going and improve from here on now.

Gary Sinclair ● 3868d

Won't happen will it?Human Rights, Data Protection Act, etc, etc, You Name It, all will be employed to ensure the Perpetrator/House Owner is protected.Great isn't it.

Brian May ● 3869d

Surely the identity of the landlord/owner must be a matter of public record. Time to name and shame.

Peter Millman ● 3869d

I personally think the main reason this property in Avenue Road was focused on recently by the authorities could be related to the stabbing which occurred in early Jan right opposite the property. I remember the immediate area being cordoned off with police asking lots of questions to anyone nearby, which may indirectly led to this discovery.If my theory is correct, then it’s a real shame for such a violent incident to occur to ultimately get the council of their back side and into some sort of action due to the negative exposure they are receiving on this growing borough issue.

Neelesh Banerjee ● 3869d

Tip off didn't work with Avenue Road, wonder who didn't get paid, isn't related to the right person, or upset someone?

Brian May ● 3869d

Problems with beds in sheds used to be that there were tip-offs when there would be a raids...

Philippa Bond ● 3869d

What's more than needed is a completely independent "Audit" of all Councillors and Staff at LBE regarding Company Directorships and property ownership, particularly and including property & Directorships in the wife's name where the Councillor/Staff member are married.Now that would be interesting.

Brian May ● 3869d

Anne spot on. Jean the Council has no legal responsibility to accommodate who are mainly single, healthy young people, it only has to provide advice and that's it.

Gary Sinclair ● 3869d

Explains why the length of Avenue Road is used as a rubbish tip with half-eaten takeaways and empty cans of cheap Eastern European lager everywhere.

James Moore ● 3869d

Perhaps the council do not want to interfere in case they will have to find alternative accommodation for the unfortunate residents of this establishment, and also for the people living in beds in sheds. Just a thought.

Jean F Fernandez ● 3869d

Planning.

Philippa Bond ● 3869d

Look, my point is that it probably doesn't even have permission to be used for residential accommodation if it was previously a carpet warehouse (commercial).  Also, isn't the main criticism that the council have said they can do nothing when every point raised by people on this thread involve steps the council COULD take.  So far I have mentioned the planning issues and fitness for human habitation, and others have mentioned things like fire risks, overcrowding (multiple occupancy) etc.  These are all things the council does have responsibility for and to simply wash their hands like this is simply wrong.  And I agree that this thread is NOT about immigration but noticed that some people jumped in with inappropriate comments.  This is about rogue landlords exploiting the vulnerable and a local authority who can't be bothered to do anything to stamp it out.

Anne Brown ● 3869d

At one time only some HMOs had to be licenced.  I think this was when they were three storeys high. There may be some areas where ALL HMOs have to be licenced.  This may be what the Council is suggesting has to happen here.

Philippa Bond ● 3870d

A few years ago one local councillor [Benjamin Dennehy] had the guts to shout out about this problem and for his pains he was accused of racism and kicked out of the Conservative Party.I wonder if the local Tories would now consider vindicating Benjamin and offering him an apology for their cowardly and treacherous behaviour towards him. Somehow I doubt they would.

Bob Little ● 3870d

A question we have all been asking for some time. Perhaps one of the South Acton Ward councillors could answer.

Maire Lowe ● 3870d

When I had a load of people living next door - New Zealanders as it happened - who were noisy, drunken and ever-changing, it was sorted by the Council saying it was a house in multiple occupation (MHO) and threatening the owner with a fine of £30,000 if he didn't sort it. He did. So we got Abu Qatada - who was an infinitely better neighbour. Why cant the HMO regulations be brought into play here?

Sara Nathan ● 3870d

I am sure that the place does not meet the current Fire Regulations for a resident property. So could the Council not close it down as being a fire risk?

Tony Crumpton ● 3870d

So we need to have more discussion on this and why people should look at the consultation.  I'm sure that the Councils would like to charge landlords for licences but would they make a difference to whatever it is that seems to be the problem that Councils seem to be unable to overcome in dealing with them?  Let's hear the problems.

Philippa Bond ● 3870d

Couldn't agree more with Philippa and Gary. There seems to be a lot of exploitive landlords in Acton for sure.However I am writing from Ireland where there is a terrible shortage of rented accommodation in the cities. At any price. I'm told that 20,000 private rented apartments were removed from the market over the last two years.  People are sleeping in their cars. Licensing landlords appeals of course but we need to be aware there is a price to be paid, usually by the people who can't afford to pay much or have children or are otherwise not that attractive in a choosy market.

Maire Lowe ● 3870d

Some boroughs with problems like this have been given Government money to help deal with the situation.The reason for the Consultation on licensing Landlords is because Ealing is known to have a lot of rogue landlords - from the number of occasions that this sort of thing is seen in the press and from the numbers of illegal beds in sheds that can be seen from the air - this is obvious. Unsafe, illegal housing and charging rent for it. 

Philippa Bond ● 3871d

This matter isn't about illegal immigration, only 3 arrests were made for illegal immigrants. No its all about horrible rachmann like landlords exploiting the vulnerable, sticking two fingers up to the law, with the Council seemingly impotent to act.

Gary Sinclair ● 3871d

So with illegal immigration rife in London .... have a guess as to what the ACTUAL population figure is!

Dee Cook ● 3871d

The council spokesperson who said there was nothing they could do was wrong.  First, any rented accommodation must be fit for human habitation and this place clearly isn't. Second, it probably doesn't have a change of user from commercial (when it was a carpet warehouse) to residential so there is probably a planning issue here.  There is plenty the council could do, but they just won't.  It is part of the borough wide problem of certain landlords doing whatever they like (I am thinking as an example of the beds in sheds problem) and the Council turning a blind eye.

Anne Brown ● 3871d

https://www.ealing.gov.uk/info/201042/current_consultations

Philippa Bond ● 3871d

So who are these community representatives if not councillors?

Bob Little ● 3875d

Even more unbelievable is how unwilling our so called community representatives are to work with the affected neighbours and residents of these properties  to better manage  an appalling situation and I don't mean our Councillors who have been far more receptive.  Disgraceful

Gary Sinclair ● 3875d

See the story on the front page. Unbelievable.Unbelievable that the council says there is nothing they can/will do.

Lorna Dodd ● 3875d

It would be horrendous if there was a fire in one of these buildings.

Philippa Bond ● 3877d

Has anyone else had a communication from the Council saying they are considering licensing all landlords not just the houses in multi occupancy?Councillor Dheer is the man behind the idea.

Maire Lowe ● 3877d

Quite right.  Unless the landlord had applied to change the use, the property would not have permission to use as residential anyway. As it was the old Bowloom warehouse, it's commercial premises.  So that's a breach of planning laws too.

Anne Brown ● 3878d

In hindsight I too did wonder why there were numerous amount of people going in and out of this property during multiple times of the day, whenever I did pass it. However, I thought it was still a Carpet warehouse.Regardless of the obvious illegal immigrant approach, I totally agree with the previous posters on why the law hasn’t come down harder for this particular greedy landlord who has quite clearly taken advantage of these 70 desperate ‘tenants’ by charging them £70 a week to live in squalid, third world living conditions. The video showed they didn’t even seem to have a toilet, with what seemed like a portaloo as a permanent solution and a makeshift roof made out of cardboard & plastic covering half the property.I have little faith the council will actually follow up on this property & after a few months passed the property will be back to square one with a new batch of desperate tenants crammed in. It seems this landlord is not fit to be one.

Neelesh Banerjee ● 3878d

http://www.actonw3.com/default.asp?section=info&link=http://neighbournet.com/server/common/ealicences002.htmIt is quite a way down the front page but there is information on a licencing scheme which is being proposed.  this is because Ealing is a borough which has trouble with problem landlords.  Please read the consultation and comment on it.  Vulnerable people are being taken advantage of by these landlords of sub-standard properties.

Philippa Bond ● 3878d

Out of the 70 tenants only 2 were there illegally. Makes you  wonder  what was on the last censor form for this property .Does the council have the power to close down this doss house .

John McNamara ● 3879d

Three minutes into thisThe One Show, 25/01/2016: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b06yg6ry

Paul Webster ● 3879d

This is an absolute disgrace. This is what many of us have long suspected and we have even raised our concerns  in the past with the authorities. Why hasn't this Dickensian doss house been closed down instantly? The book should be thrown at the landlord, a parasite exploiting very vulnerable people.

Gary Sinclair ● 3879d