**London**: A newly elected British Sikh Labour Member of Parliament has defended his record as a landlord after UK media reports highlighted anonymous complaints from his tenants about poor living conditions in properties owned by him. Jas Athwal, elected to Parliament in last month’s general election from Ilford South constituency in east London, expressed his shock and sincere apologies after the BBC reported on mold and ant infestations on Friday.
Athwal, 60, owns 15 rental flats and claimed he was unaware of the issues because the properties were managed by an agency. He has now pledged immediate action to address repairs and maintenance. “I am a renters champion. I’m proud to rent out homes with secure tenancies at below-market rents,” Athwal stated in a detailed statement.
“I want every one of my tenants to have excellent accommodation; I’m shocked at the reported condition of a number of the properties and have asked the managing agent for an explanation and immediate action to rectify any issues. I know it’s my responsibility to have issues addressed as soon as they arise and have met with the property management company to understand failures in communication,” he added.
Athwal, previously the leader of Redbridge Council, must have a selective property license to rent out a block of seven flats—a system he introduced in 2017 when he was in charge of the council. However, the BBC found that none of the seven properties had a license according to the council’s public license register. Athwal admitted he had “recently seen an email” indicating the licenses were due to expire.
“I am in the process of renewing all licenses. As council leader, I implemented the most rigorous landlord licensing scheme in London in 2017, and expanded the scheme in 2023 and 2024—the scheme would’ve been even stronger if Conservative housing secretaries had not repeatedly watered it down,” Athwal explained.
“In 2019, I led a campaign calling on the government to abolish Section 21 evictions, further protecting tenants’ rights, which was again blocked by the Conservatives.” The BBC’s investigation revealed that in one block of seven flats owned by Athwal, nearly half the tenants said they regularly had to clean their bathroom ceilings to remove mold. The news corporation also saw evidence of ant infestations in several of the seven properties.
Andrew Boff, a Conservative member of the London Assembly who also visited the flats, is calling on the governing Labour Party and local Redbridge Council to investigate, as the party’s 2024 general election manifesto included a commitment to “prevent private renters being exploited and discriminated against.”
*(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)*
