Dear readers — the name Waseem Zaffar will mean different things to different people in Birmingham. To some, he is one of the city’s most accomplished local politicians — at the forefront of campaigns on clean air and low traffic neighbourhoods, as well as Birmingham City Council’s former cabinet member for transport.
To others, he’s a highly controversial figure. At various times over his career in local politics, he’s found himself in the press for the wrong reasons (there have been accusations of bigamy, a high-profile debate over hijabs in Brum schools and embezzlement claims against charities he has been connected to). Nonetheless, he remains one of the best-known faces in the local Labour group. For his community work he has been awarded an MBE.
Some may even know him for his campaigning against poor-quality housing and the proliferation of HMOs in Birmingham. Only last year he addressed a full council meeting with an impassioned speech about the need for Birmingham City Council to “start getting the basics right”, including on housing. “We have to not just enforce against rogue landlords, we have to start acting and start leading as a proper landlord ourselves,” he said.
As such, it might come as a surprise that in 2021, Zaffar’s own property in the area, 123 Leonard Road, was transferred into his sister’s name, later to be turned into a poor quality HMO. An HMO of such poor quality, in fact, that one tenant living there in 2023 — a young mother with a toddler — had rodents in her bedroom and eventually had to get the council to transfer her to a hotel, all while the company in charge of its management received more than £3 million a year from the council.
After publication, Waseem Zaffar responded to our request for comment, telling us: “I have no financial or personal interest in 123 Leonard Road beyond it being the home I grew up in.” Meanwhile, the tenant says her appeals to Zaffar to help out with the property as her councillor yielded little results — an interpretation The Dispatch understands he disputes.
Today’s story is paywalled halfway down. While readers will be able to read the beginning for free, in order to read the full story you’ll need to be signed up as a paying member. That’s because the Dispatch currently runs at a loss — in order to keep going and providing the journalism and scrutiny Birmingham deserves we need as many members as possible on board. If you like what we do consider signing up today.
Waseem Zaffar’s house was turned into a filthy HMO. He says he has nothing to do with it
After seven months of living at 123 Leonard Road, a supported living HMO in Handsworth, Aaliya (not her real name) had had enough. The rodents that had long-since been a presence in the kitchen had now begun to spread to the bedroom; black mould covered the walls; and now, she’d found insects in the freezer. She was living in the building with her toddler. It was all becoming too much.
“I am sick of being treated as though I’m not important,” she wrote in an email addressed to the supported living company in charge of the management of her house. “You took advantage of our desperation to be housed hence why I feel you feel you can get away with leaving us in such conditions”.
The day-to-day management of the property was overseen by a company called Second City Housing. For her first few months at 123 Leonard, they were Aaliya’s only point of contact. It was only when she picked up the post one day that she got a clue as to who actually owned the building. The post was addressed to her local councillor: Waseem Zaffar.
Zaffar has long been one of the best-known names in Birmingham politics. Until 2022, the year in which he led an unsuccessful bid to replace Ian Ward as the leader of Birmingham City Council, Zaffar was the city’s cabinet member for transport, well-known for his campaigns in favour of Clean Air programmes and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods. Since 2011, he’s served Lozells as a councillor, frequently commenting on the importance of that role to him.
“I represent one of the most deprived areas in the country,” he told Birmingham Live in 2021. “All I want to do is give back to my community.”
Zaffar also has an unfortunate ability to court negative press. Over the years he’s made national headlines for everything from bigamy accusations to allegations of misuse of charity funds to racking up a hefty legal bill after a failed attempt to sue a Twitter user who accused him of bigamy and misuse of charity funds. These are all things he strongly denies to this day. Moreover, a leaked Labour Party internal report from 2009 described Zaffar as an “accomplished liar” who “worked purely for self interest and who has contributed little to the community or to the party”. Zaffar also continues to deny the validity of this document — but The Dispatch has obtained a copy and has seen emails in which one of its authors acknowledges its existence.
Unbeknownst to Aaliya, at least when she first moved in, 123 Leonard Road had been Zaffar’s home address for many years. He was born into the house, and he owned it for 15 years starting from 2006. In 2021 the property’s ownership was transferred to his sister and it was turned into an HMO (specially a “mother and baby unit”). Zaffar denies having anything to do with the property after this date.
Aaliya says her appeals to Zaffar to help her, given the appalling condition of the property and the fact he was her ward councillor, went largely ignored. We have seen emails in which she begs Zaffar to stop “ignoring” her — though he believes he took “immediate action”, adding: “I raised the issue with Birmingham City Council and Second City Housing, who later confirmed the concerns were addressed. The tenant also thanked me in writing for my assistance.”
The charitable explanation here, of course, is that Zaffar genuinely didn’t know about the state the property was in once it legally became his sisters. The uncharitable explanation would be that despite Zaffar’s public objection to the excess of HMO accommodation in the area, his family planned to make the building a supported living HMO from 2021 — and that transferring it out of his name was a way for him to avoid the negative press associated with exempt accommodation in Birmingham.
Neither his sister, Nealam Zaffar, nor Second City Housing have responded to The Dispatch’s request for comment. Waseem Zaffar also said the following:
“I sought assurances from the Council and offered to meet the resident at my advice surgery, but she declined. Cllr Morriam Jan also visited the property and confirmed in writing that the necessary works had been completed.
I followed all correct procedures to support this resident. I understand her frustration at not being rehoused in a newly built property nearby but I cannot give any individual preferential treatment to jump any waiting lists. I have no other involvement in this property and have not lived there for many years.”
