Landlord turned £1.5m house into seven 'rabbit hutch bedsits'

One bedsit 9 square metres in size was being rented for £1,100 per month
“Nightmare”: a bedroom in one of the seven flats crammed inside the two-storey family home in Battersea
Nigel Howard

A landlord has been told to rip out seven “rabbit hutch bedsits” branded “totally unsuitable for human habitation” he built in a £1.5 million house.

The two-storey family home off Northcote Road in Battersea was transformed into “substandard” tiny flats without planning permission.

One nine square metre bedsit in the property is barely bigger than a prison cell — but was rented out for £1,100 a month before council bosses took enforcement action this month.

Wandsworth council said all seven of the self-contained flats at 42 Halston Close were occupied by more than one tenant and fall below the national minimum space standard for a home of 37 square metres.

The exterior of the house in Battersea Nigel Howard

The biggest flat, barely half the size of a squash court, is occupied by a family of five from the Dominican Republic who pay £1,500 a month to share two bedrooms and a kitchen.

One tenant, who asked not to be named, said: “You can’t even swing a cat. [The hallway] is a very hazardous route for children to take. I have hit my chin so many times — because when you try to use the toilet there is a sink right there in front of you.”

Neighbours said the site, originally a playground, was transformed into two bungalows about 10 years ago.

Exposed wiring in the property Nigel Howard

Shirley Stock, 74, has lived in the area for 42 years and her garden backs onto the property. She said: “The whole thing is just a nightmare.

“Originally the owner was given permission for two bungalows but it just went on and on as high as it is. We watched him build up and up.

“We knew what he was doing. We knew it would be bedsits. He’s a law unto himself. They must be awful – they are like little rabbit hutches I would imagine. It’s horrendous.

“How it is still standing I do not know. I really feel sorry for the people living there.

A mouldy shower in one of the bedsit flats Nigel Howard

"They must be getting flooded because every time there is flood or heavy rain they are out there with buckets.

"What if there was a fire? It is scary. I’m so happy if the council are on to him — over the moon.”

Another neighbour added: “The tenants have been no problem. They’ve been no trouble to us. You feel sorry for them really. The money he must be raking in for it — it’s dear around here.

“The end one looks like it’s got a little wooden hut built on it.”

The council said: “These bedsits were so cramped, dark and tiny that they were totally unsuitable for human habitation.

“It’s completely unacceptable to cram so many people into such small spaces so we have told the owner he must either return the property to family use or submit a suitable planning application for something else. If he fails to comply he will face prosecution.”

The Standard has been unable to contact the landlord.

The council’s planning committee authorised enforcement action at a planning meeting on December 15. No time frame for the work has been set.

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