A tenant who pretended to be a landlord and illegally sublet five family homes has been ordered to pay more than £21,000 after he carved up the properties and rented them out as unsafe bedsits – putting the lives of at least 40 vulnerable residents at risk.

Andrius Cikanavicius had converted the properties into HMOs without applying for a licence or obtaining permission from the landlord or managing agent.

Horrified Redbridge Council enforcement officers found rooms that could not be opened from the inside without keys – delaying or preventing an escape in the event of a fire.

Other serious breaches of fire safety regulations included a lack of interlinked smoke alarms. Properties did not have fire doors, fire blankets or fire-resistant plasterboard fitted on the underside of the staircase. The houses were overcrowded and without adequate shared facilities.

Cikanavicius, from Dagenham, was issued with fines totalling £14,600, including £13,300 for fire safety breaches, at Barkingside Magistrates’ Court, when the council prosecuted him over his failure to comply with housing regulations. He was also ordered to pay £7,000 in costs and a £120 victim surcharge.