Ealing is fast becoming swamped by the “beds in sheds” epidemic that is sweeping the country, costing taxpayers millions and making life a misery for affected communities. Unscrupulous landlords are creating homes in garden sheds, garages and makeshift outbuildings and charging untaxed rent – sometimes up to £600 a month – from largely migrant workers looking for somewhere cheap to live. Affected local authorities say the sheer number of beds in sheds is putting a strain on local services, yet they are hamstrung by weak planning laws to do much about it. Pockets of the country are beginning to resemble shanty towns. Yesterday, in north London, 68 Romanians were evicted from the derelict former ground of Hendon FC where they had been living in shacks for months. With Britain opening its borders to Romania and Bulgaria next year, there are fears the problem will get far worse. It has prompted an extreme response. Slough borough council, which estimates up to 3,000 people are living illegally in the town, recently sent up an aircraft with thermal-imaging cameras to pick up heat being emitted from outbuildings. In a two-hour flyover it identified 210 suspected illegal dwellings. The company that operates the plane, Bluesky International, says it is in negotiations with three or four other councils in the South East to repeat the exercise. Ealing council, which is one of nine to have been allocated £2.5 million from the Department for Communities and Local Government to tackle rogue landlords, says it has carried out nearly 4,500 site inspections since October 2011 in addition to unannounced fortnightly raids. But landlords can still run rings around its officers. Outbuildings often do not require planning permission if they comply with size restrictions and are not used for sleeping accommodation. Landlords usually claim they are gyms or playrooms. Under the Housing Act, councils must give 24 hours’ notice before inspections, meaning evidence is often destroyed and tenants simply moved on. Even if a fine is eventually served, the penalties (a maximum of £5,000 for letting a property of hazardous condition) are far outweighed by the untaxed profits landlords make. For law-abiding neighbours squeezed in on all sides by over-development, life can become a misery. Brian and Anne Davies say they have seen their home depreciate by £30,000 following a valuation three months ago, and have lodged numerous complaints with the council. They have considered moving out of the area, but want to stay close to two of their three children and grandchildren, as well as to the centre of London where they can indulge their passion for classical music, the theatre and (in Brian’s case) Fulham FC and Brentwood Town. The couple also fear the only likely buyer for their home will be a landlord looking to convert it into another house of multiple occupancy – the thought of which they find hard to take. “We had a look at buying one house about two miles away in Harrow,” says Brian. “Inside, we found a mother with two small children and mattresses on the floor because they didn’t have enough room to put their beds in. There was somebody upstairs in a similar situation. That is what’s happening.” Over in Southall, another part of Ealing blighted by the problem of beds in sheds, derelict outbuildings are sprawled across a labyrinth of alleyways. On one terraced street, a man shows a young woman through a tall padlocked gate, before walking into one of three rundown garages. On another nearby road, BMWs and Jaguars are parked in front of driveways. Around the back is a row of 30 garages, some equipped with front doors. Beer cans, rotten food and discarded rubbish is piled up outside. An Asian woman in her fifties emerges, but only mumbles that she “shouldn’t speak” as she hurries past. A report published today analysing the scope of forced labour in the UK claims the number of migrant workers being exploited is a growing problem. Prof Gary Craig of Durham and Hull universities, who led the research team, says fieldwork ranging from the South West to Lincolnshire and Tayside in Scotland has revealed numerous accounts of people living in appalling conditions in caravans and agricultural outbuildings in rural areas. The overcrowded and unregulated conditions are of particular concern to the fire service. Crews are often the first to come across the makeshift homes. Writing in this month’s Fire Magazine, Tony Prosser, an area commander for West Midlands Fire Service, says the “potential influx of migrants” in 2014 “will exacerbate the demands on housing and... increase the use of beds in sheds, beds in garages and the use of derelict premises for accommodation by people unable to afford housing and living outside the benefit system”. Between April 2009 and March 2012, London Fire Brigade attended 176 fires in buildings recorded as under construction, vacant or derelict but with people living inside. The incidents involved two deaths and 36 serious injuries. Firefighters also attended 16 fires in garage conversions, involving two deaths and seven serious injuries. Rita Dexter, deputy commissioner of London Fire Brigade and a member of the national task force set up to address the problem, says national logging systems are not designed to register effectively the true number of incidents. “The safety aspect both for the people living in these places and for our firefighters is of concern to us,” says Dexter, who has compiled a dossier of beds in sheds attended by the brigade, detailing the cramped and often lethal conditions. It includes a fire at the Romanian encampment at Hendon Football Club in April last year. “There are trailing cables, open lift shafts, all kinds of really serious hazards. Many of these sheds come as a surprise. You turn up thinking there is a garage or a shed on fire, then you find people are actually living there.” The Government remains sanguine over the problems, despite demands from local authorities to put more controls on landlords. A spokeswoman says councils have “very clear” and “extensive” enforcement powers. The national task force meets again on Monday to discuss the issue. But whether from 3,000ft up in the skies over Slough or peering over next door’s garden fence, the scale of Britain’s shed cities is already clear. The question is, what can be done?
Posted on: Thu, 27 Jun 2013 13:32:08 +0000