< img src="https://www.propertywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/property-news-1772784081260.jpg"alt =""> A proprietor in Lambeth has actually been ordered to pay ₤ 30,600 to 4 occupants following a tribunal judgment over an unlicensed House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) with fire security shortages.
Rebecca Elizabeth Fong operated a three-storey home on Camberwell New Roadway as an HMO between August 2023 and August 2024 without the required licence. The four renters obtained a Rent Repayment Order (RRO) after finding the residential or commercial property was unlicensed.
Fire safety issues
Judge McKeown identified what she described “severe deficiencies” in fire safety at the residential or commercial property. These consisted of the absence of a fire blanket, just one fire door throughout the building, and a single battery-operated smoke alarm.
The tribunal likewise heard concerns about the front door, which needed a key to unlock. “The front door locked with a secret, suggesting that, in case of a fire, among the occupants would have to find the key and unlock the door,” Judge McKeown said, including that leaving it unlocked “would have jeopardized their security”.
Judge McKeown noted that Ms Fong had made “little to no effort” to keep up to date with legal requirements, regardless of being a member of the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) and the increased concentrate on fire security following the Grenfell Tower disaster in 2017.