A "nightmare" house rented out to a young family has been revealed in a series of shocking photos.
Images show the home had a broken front door which could not be locked, no heating or hot water and live electric sockets hanging from the wall.
Nottingham City Council said the property, which also had no working smoke alarms, could have killed the family with young children who were renting it out, Nottinghamshire Live reported.
The council’s Safer Housing team served an emergency prohibition order on the property in Nottingham earlier this week, where a family including three children aged two, four and six were living in the dangerous conditions.
Council chiefs have ordered the landlord to make the property safe and are calling on the Government to step up its protection of families in private rented properties.
Councillor Toby Neal said: “This is a nightmare property. It’s sheer luck that one or all of the tenants weren’t killed.
"I’m proud that our safer housing team has been able to intervene to get this family out of an incredibly dangerous situation.
“Our new selective licensing scheme, which we petitioned the Government to introduce, gives us further powers to step in and protect tenants.
"In Nottingham, 15,000 landlords now need a licence to operate – which crucially can be revoked if they are putting tenants at risk.
"We call on the Government to overhaul the current legislation and give all local councils the powers and resources they need to protect tenants.
“This landlord will now go to the top of the list to be dealt with by our selective licensing team.
"As well as being eligible for penalties of £30,000, it’s extremely unlikely that someone who has let out a property in this kind of condition will be given a licence to manage properties in the future.”
Nottingham prosecuted 11 landlords between 2016 and 2018, leading to fines of £68,000.
Since April 1, 2018, the council’s safer housing team has taken emergency action to protect tenants in nine dangerous properties, as well as serving seven civil penalties for offences under the Housing Act.
Nottingham became only the third area in the UK to introduce (from August 1, 2018) a selective licensing scheme, after the council went to court to gain the powers needed to protect tenants.
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