A photographic print of Housing, Miscellaneous, Rachman Housing Scandal

PETER RACHMAN is dead, but fear still haunts St. Stephen's Gardens and Chepstow Road, Paddington - heart of the empire where once he squeezed rents from crumbling bricks. Landlords, some of them linked with Rachman, are selling properties as fast as they can. New landlords are taking over with the aim of making a fast profit. They want the tenants out, either to resell at a profit or else to pack in more people paying more money. And so the rent bullies still bluster at the door in Rachman's streets. Mrs. Annie O'Keefe has found that a change of landlord does not necessarily mean an improvement on the Rachman regime. She has a single top-floor room at 11, St. Stephen's Gardens. Her tenancy is protected under the Rent Act. But in May the property changed hands and Mrs. O'Keefe now pays her rent to the Distinctive Property Company, who have an address at 110, Shoreditch High Street, London. STRUCK HER Since they took over Mrs. O'Keefe has been subjected to continual threats, designed, she believes, to make her quit the property. Twice she has been called on by a man called Richards and another named De Freitas (a former associate of Rachman). They claimed to be acting for the landlord. Richards and de Freitas demanded the rent - which was not due for several days. Mrs. O'Keefe keeps the door of her room chained. On the second visit, however, the two men forced the door. In doing so they bruised Mrs. O'Keefe's knee. She has also told her solicitor that one of them struck her on the arm. The pair went away when Mrs. O'Keefe threatened to get the police. And since she put the matter in the hands of a solicitor she has not been visited again. This is the bathroom at 13, St. Stephen's Gardens, one of the houses visited by the Herald investigating team BLANDFORD. D.H. 18.7.1963. Story R. Adams. RACHMAN STORY. O.P.S. The Bathroom in No. 13 St. Stephens Gardens, Paddington.