A north London landlord has been prosecuted for renting out a room that could only be entered on all fours as it was deemed to be a fire risk.
Yaakov Marom has been ordered to pay a total of £3,040 by the courts for renting out a loft room which tenants had to go on all fours up a staircase to access.
In order to enter the room, tenants had to climb in on all fours. The height between floor and ceiling of the entrance was 0.7 meteres: the average height of a six-month-old baby.
Barnet Council’s environmental health team found that the low ceiling above the staircase and small entrance hatch to the room made it impossible for tenants to reach the room while standing upright, raising concerns it constituted a fire risk, with no safe escape route in the event of fire.
The landlord was previously issued a prohibition order, but when council officers visited the property again with police officers, they found the landlord was renting the room out to a couple for £420 a month.
On 5th August 2014 at Willesden Magistrates’ Court, landlord Mr Marom pleaded guilty to failing to comply with an order served by the council prohibiting occupation of the loft room.
Mr Marom was ordered to pay a £1,500 fine, £1,420 in costs and a victim surcharge of £120