Room for rent in Hendon–You must be less than .7 meters tall

Would you pay £420 per month to rent a room where you had to crawl up the stairs to get inside? Apparently one couple in Hendon was doing exactly that.

The problem is that landlord Yaakov Marom was prohibited from renting out the room on the second floor of the home. Based on the low roofline over the stairs and a reduced height door used for entry, Environmental health officers ruled in 2012 that he could not rent out the room. They cited the dangerous task of exiting the property in the event of fire or other emergency.

When council officers returned for a follow-up investigation, they found that Marom had in fact rented out the room to a couple in direct violation of the order. He was charging them £420 monthly for the difficult to access room.

A heavy financial penalty was levied against Marom. He pleaded guilty to the violation and must pay £3,040 in penalties. The damages include a £120 victim surcharge and a £1,500 fine. The costs of £1,420 were almost as high as the fine.

At issue is that the rental unit failed to meet minimal safety requirements. Occupants must be able to exit the property quickly in an emergency, and they must not be expected to kneel or crawl through a main entryway.

While that makes sense, what happens if the room is marketed to little people? After all, celebrity actor Verne Troyer from the popular Austin Powers movies is only 2 ft 8 in. Apparently even Troyer is too tall to reasonably access the room, as one part of the staircase only has a height of 2 ft 3 in.

For now, the owner of the house cannot market the room for rent. Perhaps he can use it as a storage room. He can count on the council coming back within the next couple of years to check in on his use of the room. He can also expect a much higher penalty if he gets caught doing it again.

While the case defies belief, it draws attention to how dire the rental situation really is for Hendon tenants. Foxtons Estate Agents put the average rent at £532 per week. The cheapest rental in Hendon they had listed was £230 per week (£997 pcm).