Hackney,
20
October
2016
|
12:40
Europe/London

Statement on today’s Hackney Gazette front page

Today’s Hackney Gazette carries a story on its front page about a death at a building in London Fields earlier this week.

The information and statement that this story says was provided by Hackney Council is incorrect. The Council did not say that it had received any allegations that the building was being run illegally as a hostel, nor did it say that the owner needed a license to operate it in that way. This is an error by the Hackney Gazette.

The Council did inspect this property in August 2015 after receiving a complaint from a neighbour. Officers found that it was being used as a house of multiple occupation (HMO) but did not meet the threshold for the landlord to need a HMO license. There was no evidence it was being used as a hostel. 

The incident at the property earlier this week is a police matter and is not being investigated by the Council.