Picture: Google Maps
John Abraka, 49, of Harold Hill, turned the living room into a makeshift bedroom and had people from four different families living in the property.
Parents with a young child were staying in the building which didn’t have proper fire doors or smoke alarms.
Abraka failed to get the correct landlord license or planning permission from Barking and Dagenham Council after buying the property in Colne House, Barking under the right to buy scheme.
“We have zero tolerance for rogue landlords in Barking and Dagenham and this case shows that we will do everything within our powers to detect and punish those who put profits ahead of people,” said Councillor Margaret Mullane, Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety.
“This illegal HMO was one of the worst properties our officers inspected and Abraka made no attempts to comply with our enforcement action. We have now successfully regained the property lease from him which means he will no longer be able to harm vulnerable tenants at this property.”
In 2016 he was given a planning enforcement notice requiring him to return it to a single-family dwelling but failed to act.
Then in February 2017, he pleaded guilty to Planning and Licensing breaches at Barkingside Magistrates Court. However, he later made an application to change his plea and a new trial date was scheduled.
Despite this, he did not provide any further fire safety equipment.
Abraka was then declared bankrupt in April 2018 after building up debts of around £11,000 through unpaid Council Tax.
He was also in arrears to the Council for approximately £62,000 for non-payment of service charges and ‘major works’ funds.
His mortgage company has now taken possession of the flat, as he had also failed to make the mortgage repayments.
In November 2018, the mortgage company agreed to repay the council the service charge arrears and costs. The mortgage company was then granted the lease in its name, removing Abraka from the property title.
Tags: Barking and Dagenham
