Landlords of overcrowded flat fined £12k after fire killed dad-of-two

The landlords of an overcrowded flat in Tower Hamlets where a fire killed one of up to 22 residents living in three rooms have been fined a total of £12,000 – and had almost £80,000 confiscated by a court.

Aminur Rahman and Sofina Begum were sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court after pleading guilty to nine housing offences following a fire at the Maddocks House flat in Shadwell in the early hours of 5 March 2023. The blaze, which started when an e-bike battery caught alight, killed father-of-two Mizanur Rahman.

The housing offences the pair fessed up to included knowingly permitting occupation in excess of the license and not supplying gas safety certificate of tenancy agreement.

The pair benefitted from renting the flat to the tune of £118,324, the court heart. Begum will face six months in prison if she does not pay within four months, while the penalty for Rahman would be 28 days.

But victims of the fire have asked whether they will see any of the money collected from the landlords, as they pursue further justice for the incident.

• I paid £100 a week for a bunk bed in overcrowded east London flat, says victim of Shadwell fire
• How the tragic death of a man in an overcrowded flat exposed the dire truth about slumlord Britain
• ‘A little bit of paradise’: Residents create memorial garden to honour victim of fatal London flat fire

The victims of the fire are in the process of launching a civil case, hoping to regain some of the proceeds from the overcrowded flat. Money from the fine will go to the Treasury, while confiscated funds is expected to be split between the Home Office, the courts and tribunals service, and Tower Hamlets Council.

Daniel Cooper, a partner at Imran Khan and Partners, who is the solicitor for the victims of the fire, told Big Issue: “On behalf of the victims who lived at the flat and survived the fire, we want to know what Tower Hamlets Council will be doing with the landlords’ funds, and whether these will be made available to the victims who have suffered terribly.”

Nasmush Shahadat, a survivor of the fire, said of the decision: “We are pleased that the landlords who exploited us, and kept us in an unsafe, dangerous flat are punished. Now we need justice.

“We lost property as a result of their negligence. We were traumatised by the fire. We lost a friend.

“We ask Tower Hamlets Council to explain what they will do with the money confiscated from the landlords. Will this be made available for us to secure justice?”

The blaze exposed modern slum conditions in the heart of London, with residents sharing a single toilet and bunk beds crammed into a flat purchased from the council through Right to Buy.

One resident said he paid £100 cash to live in the flat, having discovered an advert for it in a Whitechapel newsagents. The total number of people living in the flat, said the judge, has never been definitively established.

Residents on the estate repeatedly complained of overcrowding in the flat. Tower Hamlets Council, which brought the prosecution against the landlords, had previously visited the flat and found it to be overcrowded, but then subsequently granted a license to rent the flat to no more than three people.

The fatal fire began when an e-bike battery being charged inside caught flight, with a resident telling Big Issue many of those sleeping in the flat worked as delivery drivers.

Begum and Rahman first pleaded guilty to housing offences in November 2023, but their sentences have been handed down almost exactly two years to the day since the fire.

Ehsan Ahmed Choudhury, who was living in the flat at the time of the fire while he studied for an MBA, said the blaze derailed his life and affected his mental health.

“I couldn’t complete my study because of the fire, lots of things burned. I was depressed,” Choudhury told Big Issue. “I couldn’t sleep properly. My happiness was gone.”

He added: “When I saw little things I got scared, like if I go for a shower and steam comes off the water, I felt scared sometimes.”

Choudhury said the landlords should face prison for their actions. “Everything was so, so dangerous,” he said. “I don’t think a fine is enough. There needs to be several types of lessons.”

Following the sentencing, Lutfur Rahman, the executive mayor of Tower Hamlets, said: “We pursued this prosecution and the court’s decision sends a clear message: we will not tolerate criminal landlords who endanger lives for profit. We will continue to do everything we can to ensure such cases are brought to justice in order to protect our community and we urge all local authorities to do the same.”

Since the fire, Tower Hamlets Council has served 59 enforcement notices for overcrowding and has helped 299 renters living in unlicensed properties claim back £1.4m in rent repayment orders. Rahman added: “Our thoughts and prayers remain with the family and friends of Mizanur Rahman, who tragically lost his life in the fire, caused by a faulty e-bike battery, at Maddocks House, and with all those affected by this devastating incident.”

Defendants Begum and Rahman, who have been married for 30 years, took “devices to conceal the enterprise”, a judge told them during a sentencing hearing, including using a different name and telling occupants not to use the flat as a postal adddress.

Neither has an income, the judge said, and both live with their three children in East London, who support them emotinally and financially. Rahman, a former butcher, is receiving treatment for a gambling addiction, while Begum lost her job transporting children with special needs to school after her conviction, the court heard.

Begum was given a confiscation order of £78,049 and fined £10,000 plus £2,000 in costs, while Rahman had £1.01 confiscated plus a fine of £2,000.

Those living in the flat faced homelessness after the fire. After initially being told they had no recourse to public funds, they were given hotel accommodation by Tower Hamlets Council – but many struggled to find accommodation better than the conditions they had left.

“We didn’t have any family, or anyone to help us. That’s why we’re staying in this place in the first place,” said one.

A memorial garden for Mizanur Rahman, who lost his life in the fire, was opened by neighbours in August 2024, described as “a little bit of paradise” on formerly derelict land next to Shadwell station.

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. Big Issue exists to give homeless and marginalised people the opportunity to earn an income. To support our work buy a copy of the magazine or get the app from the App Store or Google Play.