A heartless landlord who left his vulnerable tenants living in squalid conditions was hit with almost £9,000 in fines and costs after being dragged to court by Ealing Council.

Ravinder Singh Sagoo let his Portland Road, Southall, property to people recovering from stays in hospital.

The conditions in the house included:

• sickening smell inside the house.
• a filthy stove and oven caked in grime
• a shower cubicle plastered with black furry mould on the inside
• the boiler leaking water into a bucket in the kitchen
• no lock on the bathroom door
• front garden strewn with rubbish.

Sagoo, of Dickerage Road, Kingston on Thames, pleaded guilty to six offences relating to breaches of legislation on houses in multiple occupation, when he appeared at Ealing Magistrates’ Court on 27 June.

He was fined £5,500 and ordered to pay costs of £3,472.38.

Victoria Wilson, an Environmental Health officer for Ealing Council, who led the work to bring Sagoo to court, said: “The conditions in this house were awful and it had suffered woeful neglect."

“This is no way to treat any human beings, especially vulnerable people who have just spent time in hospital."

“Sagoo profited from having a steady stream of tenants but clearly did not care about his responsibilities to them.”

He pleaded guilty to six offences under Section 234 of the Housing Act 2004. These were:

• failure to ensure name, address and contact telephone number clearly displayed
• failure to supply gas certificate
• failure to supply electricity certificate.
• failure to keep common parts in good repair and decorative order – ie plaster.
• falling from the wall in hall, toilet floor dirty.
• failure to ensure fixtures and fittings and appliances maintained in good order.
• failure to ensure outbuildings, yards and forecourts maintained in repair, clean condition and good order.