Inside the 'house of horrors' rented to family for £700 a month in east London

Mark Chandler31 March 2016

This shocking video shows the "house of horrors" a couple lived in with their two young children.

Council workers found the family in the home with a fridge in the garden, bath water used to wash dishes and unsafe ceilings.

The property's unlicensed landlord has now been hit with a prohibition notice, banning anyone else renting the property until it is made safe.

Newham council warned some ceilings could have fallen in at any time, while exposed electrical wiring may have caused a fire.

The three-bedroom Manor Park property was found to have been rented out for £700 a month to a couple with two young children.

The family were living in two downstairs reception rooms, with the rest of the property gutted for renovation.

They were forced to use hot water from their bath to clean dishes in the kitchen sink. Footage from inside the building shows a shower hose stretched into the kitchen.

Dangerous: Hot water from the shower was being used to clean crockery in the kitchen
Newham Council

Elsewhere, there was electrical wiring hanging loose, exposed brickwork and holes in the wall, plus missing ceilings in the unoccupied upstairs bedrooms.

Piles of rubbish were strewn next to a fridge freezer standing on loose brickwork in the back yard. Another room appears to be piled high with junk beneath an unfinished ceiling.

Mayor of Newham, Sir Robin Wales, said: “This was truly a house of horrors. It was unsanitary and unsafe.

"The ceilings could have collapsed at any time, the wiring could have sparked a fire, but this landlord saw no problem putting this young couple and their children in grave danger and charging them for it."

The landlord is now facing prosecution under the Housing Act, Newham Council said.

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