Illegally converted London house sublet out at up to £40,000 pa has tree growing through wall

An illegally converted house in south London with a tree growing through the wall of one room may have been earning a rogue landlord £40,000 a year, according to the council that has repossessed it. The three-bedroom terraced property in Clapham had been transformed into a rental home with eight rooms, each likely to cost around £100 a week at market rate.



An electrician working for Lambeth council said the property, which was originally social housing, was the most dangerous site he had seen in 35 years. The house is one of 1,200 “shortlife” properties that were let to housing associations and co-operatives in the 1970s when Lambeth council could not afford bringing them up to a letting standard. Although they were meant to be sublet for only a short time, four decades on the council is still reclaiming them, with more than 40 yet to be recovered.



Some fell into the hands of individuals after the original deals were made. Following a court order to the landlord in the latest case, the council repossessed the property last week and workers were astonished to find a tree growing into one of the rooms where a first-floor extension had been built around a branch. An electrical cable passed through a hole drilled into the branch. There were no proper emergency exits and the eight occupants shared a single bathroom.



Councillor Matthew Bennett said: “The conditions in this illegal [house] were living in were truly appalling, and represented a genuine danger to life and limb. It is shocking that someone can make money exploiting people by illegally renting out such dangerous accommodation with no regard for the safety of the people living there.” Lambeth council has 21,000 people on its housing waiting list and 1,800 families in temporary accommodation. The council is considering taking legal action against the landlord.