Former Scotland Yard members brought in to investigate illegal overcrowding of homes in Sydney

Landlords had crammed tenants into fire-escapes, stairwells and bathrooms.

In one case, 19 illegal rooms were built in a three-bedroom home to fit 58 tenants, while 10 people were bedding down at another one-bedroom address.

A crack team of investigators at the City of Sydney, including former members of Scotland Yard and the Australian military police, have executed more than 20 search warrants in the city and Kings Cross.

In many cases, desperate overcrowding was coupled with filthy conditions, drains blocked with hair, cockroach infestations and putrid smells and plastic lining hallway walls to create makeshift showers.

In other dwellings six multi-outlet powerboards were found servicing one bedroom and exits were blocked by unauthorised modifications posing a serious fire risk.

International students and backpackers were popular among those exploited by increasingly sophisticated illegal accommodation networks.

“We want to send out the strong message — we are coming after you,” the city’s investigative specialist Roy Cottam, a former senior detective, said.

The City is not releasing addresses of the properties, while it compiles evidence with the help of NSW Police, the Australian Taxation Office and NSW Fair Trading for court action.

Mr Cottam, a former Scotland Yard detective with specialist skills fighting organised crime, said unauthorised short-term accommodation was a growing issue across the city.

“The issue ... is complex and ranges from technical breaches, through to more high-risk fire safety and building-code violations where illegal building works have been undertaken to facilitate overcrowding,” he said.

“Properties ... with unauthorised building works and fire safety defects — are our investigative priority.

“We will also focus our resources on those who take advantage of vulnerable people by setting up networks of unauthorised share accommodation for large-scale financial gain.”

The City maintained it needed the new Unauthorised Accommodation Investigation Team to gather evidence because savvy illegal operators had been refusing staff access to investigate the properties without a warrant.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the new specialist team was focused on disrupting share-accommodation providers operating a network of rental properties, which are illegally subdivided, unsafe and overcrowded.

“A number of recent investigations have highlighted the increasing problem of illegal accommodation providers, as well as the obstacles and safety issues facing council staff investigating complaints,” Ms Moore said.

“Some of the complaints we received were new territory for council staff because they involved organised syndicates operating illegal accommodation networks. In the past, our staff who have attended inspections have been verbally threatened and abused.”

Ms Moore said the investigations went beyond council expertise which prompted the engagement of former detectives and military police.

“Because of the highly organised nature of some of these operations — and their level of deception, the City felt a dedicated team with specialist investigative skills was required to crack down on this practice that is putting the safety of vulnerable young people at risk.”

In July last year a blaze that ripped through the back of a property in Alexandria uncovered an large illegal housing set-up where 15 foreign nationals were living in shipping containers, a bus with no wheels and derelict caravans stacked one on top of the other.

The landlord, Masaaki Imaeda, was allegedly charging the mostly Japanese and Korean tenants $160 a week to live in the makeshift slum which was advertised online.

At the time the City of Sydney admitted it had failed to follow up on a complaint about the property being used to illegally accommodate people.

The incident prompted a review of the City’s procedures.

The new team includes former police officers with skills in counterterrorism and forensic evidence gathering who are dedicated to stopping this concerning issue.

“We are taking a multi-agency approach, co-operating with NSW Police Force, Fire and Rescue NSW, NSW Fair Trading, the Australian Taxation Office and other relevant agencies,” Ms Moore said.

The City of Sydney is the first council in NSW to establish a specialist investigations team using a multi-agency approach to investigate reports of illegal use of property.

Source: The Australian, Nick Hansen & James Gorman (Wentworth Courier), June 16^th 2015