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Country's worst landlord blames tenants for property convictions Country's worst landlord blames tenants for property convictions
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A London landlord has been convicted for property offences seven times but believes she is the victim, not her tenants.A London landlord has been convicted for property offences seven times but believes she is the victim, not her tenants.
Katia Goremsandu, 64, tops the Ministry of Justice’s record of landlords prosecuted for providing poor quality or unlicensed homes, but she claims she has been persecuted by her local council and her rental flats are vandalised by tenants envious of her property wealth.Katia Goremsandu, 64, tops the Ministry of Justice’s record of landlords prosecuted for providing poor quality or unlicensed homes, but she claims she has been persecuted by her local council and her rental flats are vandalised by tenants envious of her property wealth.
Goremsandu is the director of a property company registered in Kensington and company records list her address as an apartment in a handsome Georgian villa in Bayswater, west London. Her tenants live in much less glamorous locations in converted houses in Tottenham and are often unemployed and on housing benefit. She refuses to say how many homes she owns. Many are financed with buy-to-let mortgages.Goremsandu is the director of a property company registered in Kensington and company records list her address as an apartment in a handsome Georgian villa in Bayswater, west London. Her tenants live in much less glamorous locations in converted houses in Tottenham and are often unemployed and on housing benefit. She refuses to say how many homes she owns. Many are financed with buy-to-let mortgages.
Related: North London landlord tops list of housing offence convictions
“The mentality of a homeless person or the person who doesn’t have work or a property is ‘why should [the landlord] have [a property] and I don’t’,” she told the Guardian on Wednesday. “And they bash it, they break it. It is a well-known fact. It is a state of mind. They punish you for being a landlord.”“The mentality of a homeless person or the person who doesn’t have work or a property is ‘why should [the landlord] have [a property] and I don’t’,” she told the Guardian on Wednesday. “And they bash it, they break it. It is a well-known fact. It is a state of mind. They punish you for being a landlord.”
She believes that the string of court summons she has faced is partly due to the 2004 Housing Act, which enforces housing standards and empowers courts to crack down on rogue landlords. She cannot believe that a Conservative government, which she said should be championing small businesses like hers, has not repealed the law.She believes that the string of court summons she has faced is partly due to the 2004 Housing Act, which enforces housing standards and empowers courts to crack down on rogue landlords. She cannot believe that a Conservative government, which she said should be championing small businesses like hers, has not repealed the law.
“Legislation has criminalised landlords if they don’t carry out repairs but the truth is the tenants break our property,” she said. “We are the victims and we cannot take any action against the tenants.“Legislation has criminalised landlords if they don’t carry out repairs but the truth is the tenants break our property,” she said. “We are the victims and we cannot take any action against the tenants.
“My places are vandalised periodically, alarm systems are broken. It is a war between the landlords and the tenants and they begrudge the fact that we have property. We don’t have money stashed in the bank to be paying heavy fines … The 2004 legislation doesn’t help landlords, it helps tenants and it isn’t fair because most of them are sponging off the state. We want that legislation to be scrapped.”“My places are vandalised periodically, alarm systems are broken. It is a war between the landlords and the tenants and they begrudge the fact that we have property. We don’t have money stashed in the bank to be paying heavy fines … The 2004 legislation doesn’t help landlords, it helps tenants and it isn’t fair because most of them are sponging off the state. We want that legislation to be scrapped.”
Goremsandu wants sympathy. “My health has deteriorated and my finances have suffered,” she said, referring to the London borough of Haringey’s enforcement action against her properties. “I am being victimised and harassed. That is the God’s honest truth. I take pride in my homes but they have been bashed by tenants.”Goremsandu wants sympathy. “My health has deteriorated and my finances have suffered,” she said, referring to the London borough of Haringey’s enforcement action against her properties. “I am being victimised and harassed. That is the God’s honest truth. I take pride in my homes but they have been bashed by tenants.”