Ants are everywhere': Labour MP's tenants reveal condition of flats

[Sid Bishop]

A Labour MP rents out flats with black mould and ant infestations, the BBC has discovered.
Jas Athwal, the newly-elected MP for Ilford South, owns 15 rental flats, making him the biggest landlord in the House of Commons.
In one block of seven flats owned by Mr Athwal nearly half the tenants said they had to regularly clean their bathroom ceilings to remove mould.
The BBC also saw evidence of ant infestations in a number of the seven properties.
"The ants are everywhere," one resident said, pointing to insects climbing up a door frame. "They are on my kid’s body and on their clothes."
Another resident said they had been threatened with eviction by the letting agent if they complained about problems in their flat or started claiming benefits. Mr Athwal said the properties were managed by an agency, he had not been aware of these problems, and denied any tenant had been threatened with eviction. He said he did not take on tenants on housing benefit to avoid conflicts of interest with his role as the local council leader.
He described himself as a "renters’ champion". In 2018 Mr Athwal, who led Redbridge Council from 2014 until he became an MP last month, shared an article about a local landlord being fined by the council, writing, external: "Rogue landlords, we are coming for you."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyg1j0lv1go

[Sid Bishop]

Wonder if Two-Tier Keir will make any mention at all of this ?

[Friend or fart]

All in all, been a disastrous month for Labour. They shot themselves in the foot with the Winter fuel allowance debacle. Sure, there are plenty of Pensioners who are loaded; but with the energy companies taking the p-ss there are plenty who are on the cusp of being badly affected. With my heart problems, I really feel the cold. I can manage fairly easily but you never know what these money grabbing bastards will do next.

[Long slender neck]

Wonder if Two-Tier Keir will make any mention at all of this ?

Who is TwoTier Keir?

[EliotNes]

Jas Athwal - Slum Landlord. Making money out of other people's misery and using the excuse "it was the management companies fault". Effing hypocrite. He deserves all the dirt thrown at him for this. But it'll be old news by Monday and the poor people in these premises will probably still be living with these problems in a month & a year's time.

What an embarrassment for the local Sikh community.

I agree with the sentiments expressed in some media that if they are serious about addressing such matters, the Labour Party should make an example and 1) kick him out and 2) force a by-election with a new Labour candidate. They have a big enough majority to do this, even if slum landlord Athwal stands as an independent.

[Max B Gold]

Jas Athwal - Slum Landlord. Making money out of other people's misery and using the excuse "it was the management companies fault". Effing hypocrite. He deserves all the dirt thrown at him for this. But it'll be old news by Monday and the poor people in these premises will probably still be living with these problems in a month & a year's time.

What an embarrassment for the local Sikh community.

I agree with the sentiments expressed in some media that if they are serious about addressing such matters, the Labour Party should make an example and 1) kick him out and 2) force a by-election with a new Labour candidate. They have a big enough majority to do this, even if slum landlord Athwal stands as an independent.

Labour deselected Sam Tarry in that constituency, a good left Labour to instal a Land Lord.

On Kier Hardies banner was a cry to oppose Landlords.

Nu New Labour cry - for the Landlords and the geonocide

[Sid Bishop]

Jas Athwal - Slum Landlord. Making money out of other people's misery and using the excuse "it was the management companies fault". Effing hypocrite. He deserves all the dirt thrown at him for this. But it'll be old news by Monday and the poor people in these premises will probably still be living with these problems in a month & a year's time.

What an embarrassment for the local Sikh community.

I agree with the sentiments expressed in some media that if they are serious about addressing such matters, the Labour Party should make an example and 1) kick him out and 2) force a by-election with a new Labour candidate. They have a big enough majority to do this, even if slum landlord Athwal stands as an independent.

Labour deselected Sam Tarry in that constituency, a good left Labour to instal a Land Lord.

On Kier Hardies banner was a cry to oppose Landlords.

Nu New Labour cry - for the Landlords and the geonocide

Completely correct.

[Long slender neck]

Almost zero sympathy for landlords.

But strange to see the Tories on here come out against them.

[Currywurst and Chips]

A bad landlord overseeing slum accommodation in Ilford!!??

[Sid Bishop]

Wonder if Two-Tier Keir will make any mention at all of this ?

Who is TwoTier Keir?

Google it and see, here is something I found on ''Quroa''

Two-tier policing is a term used to describe the idea that some behaviour, in this instance protests and demonstrations, are dealt with more harshly than others. Some have claimed that the riots across the UK in the past few days have been met with harsher police measures than others.
After a man was detained over comments made on Facebook, Tesla CEO Elon Musk escalated his dispute with the United Kingdom, calling the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer "two-tier Keir" and questioning if the riots were taking place in Britain or the Soviet Union.

[Long slender neck]

So you're saying the racists trying to burn down hotels and attacking police were dealt with harshly? More harshly than who?

[The Reverend]

Almost zero sympathy for landlords.

But strange to see the Tories on here come out against them.

To play devils advocate here, the guy did pay a “management company” to run these properties for him. Not excusing accountability, which ultimately sits with the landlord, but these property management & lettings companies can be utter scum of the earth. Even lower than normal estate agents, and that’s really saying something!

[CEB2ElectricBoogaloo]

Almost zero sympathy for landlords.

But strange to see the Tories on here come out against them.

To play devils advocate here, the guy did pay a “management company” to run these properties for him. Not excusing accountability, which ultimately sits with the landlord, but these property management & lettings companies can be utter scum of the earth. Even lower than normal estate agents, and that’s really saying something!

But what are you actually saying here?

[CEB2ElectricBoogaloo]

Wonder if Two-Tier Keir will make any mention at all of this ?

Who is TwoTier Keir?

Google it and see, here is something I found on ''Quroa''

Two-tier policing is a term used to describe the idea that some behaviour, in this instance protests and demonstrations, are dealt with more harshly than others. Some have claimed that the riots across the UK in the past few days have been met with harsher police measures than others.
After a man was detained over comments made on Facebook, Tesla CEO Elon Musk escalated his dispute with the United Kingdom, calling the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer "two-tier Keir" and questioning if the riots were taking place in Britain or the Soviet Union.

“Here’s something I found on Quora”
The internet equivalent of “here’s something I saw written on the wall of a toilet in human poo”

[Long slender neck]

I think Sid is too afraid to tell us his own opinions

[Dunners]

It's not all bad, though. Because, at the end of the day, the tenants did get to keep all their new ants.

[Currywurst and Chips]

Exactly, insects are an excellent and sustainable source of renewable protein compared to the industrial genocide of farm animals that’s contributing the the climate mass extinction catastrophe

[WilliamTell]

Wonder if the management company is an aunt/uncle/brother.

[Friend or fart]

It will be interesting to see the results of an investigation. When the likes of Super Maoist Maxy ( allegedly living North of the Border ), jumps on this, it raises my suspicions that the said member for Ilford South has been set up. He reveals that the Sikh MP replaced a Looney Left candidate, that has Cuba as it's role model. There is, perhaps, more to this story than meets the eye

[Proposition Joe]

It will be interesting to see the results of an investigation. When the likes of Super Maoist Maxy ( allegedly living North of the Border ), jumps on this, it raises my suspicions that the said member for Ilford South has been set up. He reveals that the Sikh MP replaced a Looney Left candidate, that has Cuba as it's role model. There is, perhaps, more to this story than meets the eye

The Leyton Orient Message Board have, via a BBC journalist, 'set up' a Labour MP?

Amazing.

[CEB2ElectricBoogaloo]

I’d like to be able to say “oh proposition jevans!” but I fear he might actually be serious

[The Reverend]

Almost zero sympathy for landlords.

But strange to see the Tories on here come out against them.

To play devils advocate here, the guy did pay a “management company” to run these properties for him. Not excusing accountability, which ultimately sits with the landlord, but these property management & lettings companies can be utter scum of the earth. Even lower than normal estate agents, and that’s really saying something!

But what are you actually saying here?

I’m saying that the property management company should be getting just as much stick as the MP is (correctly) getting. They are both at fault.

[Sid Bishop]

To play devils advocate here, the guy did pay a “management company” to run these properties for him. Not excusing accountability, which ultimately sits with the landlord, but these property management & lettings companies can be utter scum of the earth. Even lower than normal estate agents, and that’s really saying something!

But what are you actually saying here?

I’m saying that the property management company should be getting just as much stick as the MP is (correctly) getting. They are both at fault.

Correct.

[CEB2ElectricBoogaloo]

To play devils advocate here, the guy did pay a “management company” to run these properties for him. Not excusing accountability, which ultimately sits with the landlord, but these property management & lettings companies can be utter scum of the earth. Even lower than normal estate agents, and that’s really saying something!

But what are you actually saying here?

I’m saying that the property management company should be getting just as much stick as the MP is (correctly) getting. They are both at fault.

Well, no, that’s obviously nonsense.
“Property management companies can be scum” is a constant ongoing issue. “Labour MP is a slum landlord” is news. If the Labour MP wants to not be news, he could do due diligence on the properties he owns. Giving “stick” to a property management company outside of a campaign for legislation to enforce higher standards would be useless. The MP is the focus, and rightly. It’s totally bizarre to suggest that his decision to pay someone else to manage his homes means that he should only be considered partly to blame.

[The Reverend]

But what are you actually saying here?

I’m saying that the property management company should be getting just as much stick as the MP is (correctly) getting. They are both at fault.

Well, no, that’s obviously nonsense.
“Property management companies can be scum” is a constant ongoing issue. “Labour MP is a slum landlord” is news. If the Labour MP wants to not be news, he could do due diligence on the properties he owns. Giving “stick” to a property management company outside of a campaign for legislation to enforce higher standards would be useless. The MP is the focus, and rightly. It’s totally bizarre to suggest that his decision to pay someone else to manage his homes means that he should only be considered partly to blame.

It’s “obviously nonsense” that the property management is at fault at all here?

Note that I did not say “equally at fault”