Rogue landlord to challenge stripping of OBE

A rogue landlord who is being stripped of his OBE says he is going to challenge the taking away of his honour.

Nirpal Riat, from Hounslow in west London, has been told he has to forfeit the honour following his conviction for unlawfully renting out property, which the council described as being in a "woeful" condition, and a fine of more than £300,000.

Hounslow Council's deputy leader, Tom Bruce, welcomed the decision, saying it shows there will be "consequences for rogue landlords who put their tenants' welfare at risk".

It is very unusual to take away an honour over a housing offence - but former Home Office minister Norman Baker backed the idea of removing honours for such serious cases.

Convictions for such landlord cases are not in the usual criteria for losing an honour - but Baker, who has campaigned to reform the honours system, says he welcomes such an intervention for a "particularly bad offence".

The honours system itself has been changing - with deliberate efforts to make it more inclusive, in terms of awards for people from different social backgrounds and parts of the country.

The awards for New Year Honours 2026 had more higher honours for people from working-class backgrounds than ever before.

But this latest case shows how the system is also being adapted to send a message in the withdrawal of awards.

Riat was convicted at Isleworth Crown Court in July 2023 for renting out property that had been unlawfully converted into multiple self-contained flats, with Hounslow Council saying that tenants faced unacceptable conditions.

There was a financial penalty of £301,000, including a victim surcharge, and the council then formally requested the removal of his OBE - which three years later has now happened.

The landlord, also known as Paul Riat, claims he has been unfairly made a "scapegoat" by the council.

"They wanted to target me, make me an example to other landlords, to say we've got the big fish," he told the BBC, claiming that he was being pursued while many other worse landlords were being overlooked.

"Those are the ones that the council should be targeting, where people are really creaming money, where there are six people living in an outbuilding, charging up to £600 per person," he said.

Riat says he is going to mount a legal challenge over the loss of the OBE, which he said had left him "extremely upset" and damaged "my health, my family and my reputation".

He said claims about his behaviour as a landlord were exaggerated and that he would continue with the fundraising charity work that brought him the award in 2011.

Bruce said he had previously never seen the honours system being used this way against a rule-breaking landlord, but he told the BBC he was "delighted they've taken the action. It certainly sends a clear message".

The council deputy leader said it showed that "exploiting tenants and profiting from unacceptable living conditions is not something that will be tolerated".

"Ensuring the best possible quality of life for our residents is an absolute priority, and we will use every measure at our disposal to protect tenants and hold rogue landlords to account," Bruce said.

Riat rejected the claims that his tenants had been living in poor conditions - and says over the next three months he will take legal action to overturn the loss of his OBE.

But the Cabinet Office says he has three months to hand back his medal to Buckingham Palace - and that there is no appeals process.

The honours system has a forfeiture committee that considers taking away awards because of misconduct - and in the case of Riat, he was accused of "bringing the honours system into disrepute".

He is one of about 50 people to have had honours taken away in the past three years, with the committee's recommendations being sent to King Charles for his approval.

Typical reasons include an honours awardee committing an offence leading to imprisonment for more than three months, being struck off by a professional body or committing a sexual offence.

For instance, Jeffrey Donaldson, the former Democratic Unionist Party leader, is among those who have lost their honours this year, following his conviction for a series of child sex offences.

But the forfeiture committee can use wider grounds to remove honours - and in the case of Riat, it has acted against a landlord who was found guilty of operating rental properties in breach of the law.

The move comes as the government has been pushing for greater protection for renters.

Later this year, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government will ask all landlords to sign up to a new national registration scheme.

Sign up here to get the latest royal stories and analysis every week with our Royal Watch newsletter. Those outside the UK can sign up here.