East Lothian 'Harry Potter' landlord says cupboard room kept tenant off the street

Edinburgh Live

a day ago

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A landlord who admitted a tenant slept in a cupboard under the stairs of one of his houses defended his action saying it kept the man off the street.
John Friel said that the discovery of the man staying in the cupboard had been described as " Harry Potter style " and was a "bit of a joke".
But he said the reality was that the man needed somewhere to stay and the alternative was turning him out on the street.
Speak to East Lothian licensing sub committee this week Mr Friel, who has applied for House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO) licences for two houses on Haddington's Hope Park, said the tenant had been staying in one of the houses but had to move into the neighbouring property.
At the time, he said, he had no room available and the man was having problems with his employers.
He said: "I let him stay in the cupboard under the stairs, I was helping him out, it was referred to as Harry Potter style at the time, it was a bit of a joke but the alternative was he would have been on the street and I didn't want that."
In the Harry Potter books the orphaned title character initially lives in the cupboard under the stairs of his aunt's home.
The use of the cupboard was included in a report to the sub committee which raised a number of issues about the two houses.
The committee was told one of the properties had an HMO licence which expired over three years ago while the other did not have one.
Mr Friel told the committee he had been unwell for a time which had impacted on his ability to apply for the licensing and said he had been unaware the smoke alarm system in one of the properties was not up to standard.
The committee heard Mr Friel sent emails confirming the electrical work required to update the alarms had been carried out minutes before they met to discuss the licence applications on Thursday this week.
However fire watch commander Torquil Cramer told the meeting he would have to visit the house and confirm the system was in place before he could update them on the properties.
Among concerns raised by licensing officers to the committee were claims single beds were discovered in garden sheds at both properties, tenants paid in cash and enforcement action was ongoing over the change of use of the houses without permission.
It was also claimed Mr Friel had put 'pods' in a conservatory at the back of one property which was erected without planning permission, however the landlord said the insulated pods were intended to be used to breed dogs not for tenants.
The sub committee agreed to defer a decision on whether to grant licences or not until the next meeting to give fire officers time to inspect the properties and gather updates on outstanding issues.