A staggering 33 people were found sharing a small flat raided by housing officers in London’s East End.

The overcrowded flat was crammed with bunk beds and had mattresses strewn across the floor.

Tower Hamlets Council’s housing team also came across a second flat where nine people, including two 10 year olds, were sleeping.

Besides overcrowding, the flat was dirty, infested with cockroaches and had poor drains.

Property owner Maqbool Khan admitted several housing offences at Thames Magistrates Court, including renting out an unlicensed house in multiple occupation.

He was fined £22,500 and ordered to pay £1,700 costs.

Managing agent ARS Properties and director Mohammed Abul Miah were each fined £1,650 with £1,700 costs.

£30,000 Fines and Costs for Unsafe HMO

A landlord was fined £20,000 for running a dangerous unlicensed HMO in Great Yarmouth.

Stanley Rodgers, 78, was facing magistrates in the town for the third time.

In 2004, he was sentenced to jail for five years after two teenage boys died of carbon monoxide poisoning from a faulty gas fire in one of his home.

In 2015, Rodgers was convicted of letting an unlicensed HMO and a string of health and safety offences.

Now, he was convicted again of letting an unlicensed HMO, which lacked fire safety precautions.

On top of the fine, he must pay £5,500 costs and an outstanding £4,600 to the court.

Rogue Letting Agent Banned for Pocketing Rent and Deposits

Letting agent Jane Russell spent thousands of pounds collected in rent and deposits from tenants on her own business bills.

Insolvency experts investigating why her Ipswich, Suffolk, business collapsed in August 2018 uncovered tenant deposit payments of £12,000 were not recorded and other deposits worth £20,000 were not safeguarded in a deposit scheme.

They also found £7,000 collected in rents was not passed to landlords but spent on her own business costs.

The loss to tenants and landlords was worked out as £28,000.

Russell, 58, agreed to being banned as a director and from running a company for five years.