Slum landlord family ordered to pay £250,000 after cramming 31 tenants into four-bedroom home

Four beds were discovered in the front room and three in each bedroom, a council said

A family of slum landlords who crammed 31 tenants into a four-bedroom house has been ordered to pay back almost £250,000.

Harsha Shah, her daughter Chandni and brother Sanjay were bringing in around £112,000 a year by "stuffing 31 people into appalling conditions", the authority said.

The tenants were forced into "sleeping shifts" as night workers would swap with those who had daytime working hours at the property in Napier Road, Wembley, council officers found.

Enforcement officers from Brent Council also found a woman living in a shed in the back garden with no light or heat after a raid in 2016.

Four beds were discovered in the front room and three in each bedroom, according to the authority.

Stacks of rice and canned vegetable tins were found next to beds at the property in 2016. Credit: Brent Council

The council said Harsha and Chandni Shah have been subjected to a £116,000 confiscation order, while their agent Jaydipkumar Valand was made to repay £5,000.

All three defendants from the Shah family were also ordered to pay £41,000 in fines, as well as costs of £82,367 at Harrow Crown Court.

Eleanor Southwood, Cabinet Member for Housing and Welfare Reform, said: "We will use every legal power we have to come down hard on landlords and agents who exploit tenants in Brent.

"Every house in multiple occupation needs a licence, which helps to create decent living standards in the borough.

"We will track down landlords who do not license their properties and rip off tenants by housing them in miserable conditions."