Rogue landlord causes havoc after taking over Lambeth council homes

A Lambeth resident has been left “traumatised” after men claiming to work for the council “broke into” her home by smashing the lock on her front door.

Kelvin Nimako, 34, who is a carer for his mother Bernice, 55, in Wychwood Way, Crystal Palace, said that men sporting council-issued lanyards broke the lock on their front door and smashed a window on February 18.

Mr Nimako said: “I came back from work and my mother was so frightened. She said the council had come and told her to evacuate the building.

“They broke the lock on the door. We didn’t know what was going on.”

The men told Mr Nimako’s mother that the property needed to be emptied as it was being illegally rented out.

A spokesman from Lambeth council said that an injunction had been obtained against an organisation that had “illegally occupied” a number of council homes.

The properties, which include a number of flats on the neighbouring Central Hill Estate, have been “fraudulently rented” out to Lambeth residents, the council said.

Mr Nimako said: “My mother started renting the property about six months ago.

“She had no idea she was renting from an illegal landlord.”

The Lambeth spokesman said that council staff had been visiting people in the affected properties to “inform them of their housing status” and “offer advice on what their options are”.

But, a video seen by the South London Press, shows a heated discussion between Mr Nimako and the three men who returned to his mother’s home the next day.

In the footage, Mr Nimako shows one of the men the broken lock and said, “we were broken into by your workers.” 

The man responds: “Yes. We know, because we can have access to our property.”

The council denies any allegations of forced entry or damage to properties.

Mr Nimako said: “These men didn’t want to listen to anything I asked. It was like they were making the rules up themselves.

“If they knew we were being scammed, why wouldn’t they tell us before turning up like this ?

“They served an injunction on the landlord but my mother knew nothing about it.

“You can’t have two days to pack up where you are living for six months.”

Mr Nimako said that the council is now supporting his mother to find a new home. 

But, he said: “They intimidated her. She gets confused, and you can see from her face she hasn’t been able to sleep. We are both traumatised.

“Lambeth said they will find her a home but we don’t know when that will be so we are looking for ourselves. This whole incident has been a huge lesson.”

The community and tenants union, Acorn, has been helping Mr Nimako and his mother after they were alerted to the incident.

A spokesman said: “There is a serious issue of councils across the country failing to take action against landlords who break the law, and in many cases they intervene in a reckless way which ends up with the tenant being evicted.”

Last week Acorn launched a  London-wide campaign calling upon councils to implement a ‘zero tolerance’ policy approach to bad landlords and landlords who break the law. 

A Lambeth council spokesman said: “In the face of the housing crisis facing Lambeth, and London as a whole, the council is bringing more empty homes back into use, in a bid to help meet the huge demand for accommodation.

“We have obtained an injunction against an organisation that has illegally occupied a number of council homes, and fraudulently ‘rented’ them on to other individuals. All residents in these properties moved out voluntarily after they were told they did not have valid tenancies.

“We will refer the occupants to Housing Needs where applicable, or to other independent agencies that could provide support, and signpost them to the police as victims of fraud.”

Pictured top: A video shows Mr Nimako picking up the broken lock from the floor and showing the council workers (Picture: Kelvin Nimako)