Premier League footballer caught up in rent-to-rent sub-letting scheme

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Crystal Palace FC footballer Wilfried Zaha has become embroiled in an alleged rent-to-rent scam involving a block of flats in West London, it has been reported.

The company involved is Z O and Sons Ltd trading as ZO Properties which the 29-year-old footballer joined as a director in October 2017 but resigned in August this year.

It has now been revealed that ZO Properties has been leasing the £2,700-a-month apartments in Maida Vale but sub-let them without consent and collected the rent and, it has been alleged, not been passing on the cash to the property’s owners.

The managing agent for the property’s freeholder told The Sun newspaper that the flats were to be used as staff accommodation, not sub-let on the open market.

Illegal sub-letting of properties by rent-to-rent companies as highlighted by this case are becoming a growing problem within the private rented sector and are giving the reputable providers a bad name, says evictions Paul Shamplina (pictured).

Eviction

“They also make possession claims difficult because it’s often hard to work out who the landlord really is and, as in this case, tenants believe they have paid their rent on time but are facing eviction by the ‘superior landlord’ for non-payment of rent,” he says.

According to the Sun newspaper, ZO Properties’ director Obinna Ogbonna cannot be traced, while the Companies House website reveals that his firm’s latest accounts are overdue by five months and its company website is no longer live.

ZO Properties’ Facebook page describes itself as a ‘leading serviced apartments’ operator in London and features some of the Maida Vale flats. But comments on the page also allege it has been collecting deposits for tenancies, cancelling them at the last moment and keeping the cash.

The Sun newspaper has reported that Zaha is now ‘urgently investigating’ what’s been going on.

ZO’s company address is currently registered at accountancy firm CC Young, but has previously been registered at a flexible workspace near Old Street on the outskirts of the City.

Pic credit: Shutterstock/Facebook

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