A squalid 'death-trap' house that had six top-level health and safety hazards and was so insecure squatters and drug addicts walked in off the street is being taken over by Peterborough City Council so that it can be renovated and managed to an acceptable standard.

Action is also being taken to licence the two-storey Victorian house in Cromwell Road, Peterborough, as a house in multiple occupation (HMO). Despite several reminders by council officers the owner has failed to apply for an HMO licence.

Following complaints from neighbours at the end of July, council officers found a catalogue of serious hazards including:

• A gas pipe was not properly capped after a cooker had been stolen, posing a risk of explosion if anyone put credit in the meter. Transco had to attend as an emergency and make it safe
• The boiler was inoperable, leaving tenants with no heating or hot water
• The electricity meter had been by-passed, leaving scorch marks from live cables and posing a serious risk of fire. Electricity company E-on took emergency action to make it safe
• Drainage pipes were blocked and stagnant kitchen waste water – soaking into various duvets and pieces of carpet – was collecting in sticking pools in a partially excavated, rubbish-strewn and over-grown rear garden
• There were no working lights in the kitchen
• There were no fire alarms, fire doors or fire-fighting equipment
• Stairs and banisters were damaged and there was refuse on the first floor landing
• Front and rear doors were insecure, allowing access by strangers who left used hypodermic needles scattered around
• The tenants – a couple sharing one ground-floor room and a single man in an upstairs room – did not know the identity of their landlord so had no means of reporting faults

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Now, the council has made an interim management order under the Housing Act 2004, giving it authority to take over the running of unlicensed HMOs. It plans to spend around £25,000 on repairs and recover the money, initially from rents but then from the owner and, if necessary, from the sale of the property.

The interim management order runs until the beginning of February but a further order can be made giving the council management rights for up to five years if necessary.

Peterborough City Council's cabinet member for housing, neighbourhoods and planning, Councillor Peter Hiller said: "This was an appalling example of landlord exploitation of tenants who were in a vulnerable position because they had no where else to live.

"Properties like this also denigrate neighbourhoods and the city council will take immediate and uncompromising action whenever necessary to ensure landlords – especially those running houses in multiple occupation – provide acceptable accommodation, not only for the benefit of their tenants but also for the amenity of their neighbours."

(CD/KMcA)