A pair of landlords have been fine following a fire at a flat in Thornton Heath.

Wimalendran Jeyaruban, owner of the London Road flat, and letting agent Chaudry Amir Ijaz were ordered to pay £5,500 each after 12 people were rescued from a blaze in January.

An inspection by Croydon Council housing officers after the fire found five people were living there, each paying £150 a month, despite the flat not being licensed as a house of multiple occupation.

The licence is a legal requirement when more three unrelated people are renting a property.

Jeyaruban had agreed to empty the flat after a previous inspection in 2012 found it was unlicensed.
Instead he let it to Ijaz, who rented it to five tenants without a licence despite council warnings. 

The council launched a fresh investigation after firefighters led seven people to safety from the flat, as well as five from a neighbouring property, on January 7.

The blaze badly damaged the first and second floors of the flat and two men were taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.

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Five people were living in the flat before the fire

Jeyaruban and Ijaz were each fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £2,500 in court costs after being found guilty of failing to licence the flat for multiple occupation at Croydon Magistrates' Court on Monday.

Norbury fire station manager Bob Penny said: "Landlords have a clear duty under the law to ensure that the people renting their premises are living in a safe environment. 

"We work closely with the council to ensure that they are not ignoring those responsibilities and this fine should send a clear message to landlords about the consequences of not taking those responsibilities seriously."

The council has drawn up plans to introduce a licensing scheme requiring landlords' and their proerties to pass health and safety checks and 'fit and proper person' tests before they can let on the private market.

But opposition councillors have dubbed the proposals "tenant tax", warning costs would be passed on to occupants.

Councillor Alison Butler, cabinet member for homes and regeneration, said: "It was a miracle that nobody was seriously injured or killed in this fire.

"This case goes to show the potential dangers of an unregulated private rental sector, which is why we are consulting over proposals to introduce a landlord licensing scheme which will give protection to private tenants from rogue landlords."