Council Wants 'Rogue Landlord' to Be Stripped of OBE
Nirpaul Riat fined £300,000 for poor conditions in his properties
Misuse believed to be on the increase due to more parking restrictions
July 18, 2023
A respected businessman with an OBE has been branded a “rogue landlord” by a Hounslow Council for his management of 22 properties where tenants lived in “appalling conditions”.
Nirpaul Riat was taken to court after being issued an Emergency Prohibition Order by Hounslow Council due to poor conditions in homes he was renting out and judges fined him £300,000 for the catalogue of problems were identified.
It was found that he had illegally converted houses into flats and rented out outbuildings to vulnerable people, who were forced to live in “terrible conditions” including damp, squalid rooms with limited natural light, a lack of hot water, heating which only worked irregularly as well as leaks and a mould problem.
Mr Riat was handed the fine by judges at Isleworth Crown Court after “two decades of managing illegally converted houses”, which included illegally converting a property into eight flats and renting an outbuilding in Osterley. He now faces being sent to prison if he does not pay the fine.
The businessman was previously fined £20,000 in 2009 for illegally converting a property in Hanworth into flats. Mr Riat was awarded an OBE ‘for services to Charity and to the Punjabi People’ in 2011 after he raised nearly £50,000 for air ambulance services, Thames Valley Crime Stoppers and Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Conditions in one of Nirpaul Riat's properties. Picture: Hounslow Council
However, now that he has been found to have repeatedly broken the law, Hounslow Council is seeking to have Mr Riat stripped of his OBE. Councillor Tom Bruce, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Development at Hounslow Council, said, “This landlord treated his tenants as nothing more than a commodity – exploiting residents in need of housing for his own financial gain.
“While these residents were left to languish in these appalling conditions, Nirpaul grew rich at their expense. I hope today’s verdict sends a message that we do not – under any circumstances – tolerate rogue landlords in Hounslow and will use the full force of the law to prosecute them.”
Electrics were deemed to be unsafe in the homes he was renting. Picture: Hounslow Council
Mr Riat has been contacted for comment.
Rory Bennett - Local Democracy Reporter