The beginning of 2020 brought more big fines, and more news stories on the crackdown and regulation of short term ‘AirBnB’ style lets.
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Janaury’s Top Three Unlicensed Properties and Rogue Landlords:
Rogue agency hit with £25k fine by court for HMO prosecution
A lettings agency and two directors
Jay and Ralph Bernard, directors of Masons Estates in Ipswich, have been ordered to pay over £25,000 after being convicted over a four-bedroom home containing up to 27 residents. They were convicted on a number of counts following prosecution by Ipswich Borough Council. The prosecutor, Joe Bird, described conditions as “squalid and dangerous”.
At sentencing last week, Masons Estates was fined £10,000 plus £7,847 costs; Jay Bernard was fined £3,500 plus £1,500 costs, and Ralph Bernard was fined £1,500 plus £500 costs.
All three will also have to pay a £170 victim surcharge.
Unnamed rogue landlord in Devon fined £18k for failing to adhere to Improvement Notice
South Hams council say that the landlord has now organised and paid for the works to be carried out to bring the property up to a safe and legal level for renting.
“It is important for landlords to know that we have these powers and where necessary we will use them to protect our most vulnerable residents.”
The council decided to issue civil penalties under section 249a of The Housing Act 2004 as an alternative to a prosecution. This policy – Section 126 and schedule 9 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 – came into force on April 6 2017.
Olympia Estates Ltd in Paddington, fined £25k for trying to evade HMO Licensing
A London council has caught out a rogue lettings agency for illegally operating two properties, with issues ranging from gas safety through undersized rooms and on to lacking the appropriate HMO licences.
Olympia Estates Ltd, a letting agency based in Paddington, has been fined £25,000 following a long-running investigation by the Westminster council.
The letting agent didn’t apply for a House in Multiple Occupation licence on the two properties and, according to a statement from the council, was found to be trying to evade the licensing process.
The two properties, close to the company’s office, were required to be licensed as they had five or more people living in a shared property.
In addition some of the rooms were undersized and one of the properties had a gas leak.
Olympia Estates Ltd was ordered by a tribunal to pay a Civil Penalty Notice of £15,000 regarding one of the properties. With the second property, the agent settled with the council outside the tribunal for the sum of £10,000.
Total top three story fines reported in trade press this month: £68k
Tide turns against Airbnb as Scotland and Bristol move to regulate
The tide is turning against Airbnb and other short-term lets platforms after both Scotland and the city of Bristol yesterday announced measures to regulate its use.
Councils in Scotland are to be given powers to introduce HMO-style licencing schemes for short-term lets in Airbnb hotspots after months of sustained campaigning by housing activists.
The debate has been most vocal in Edinburgh, where the transition of traditional renting stock to short-lets has been most acute.
Research published by the Scottish government last year found a three-fold increase in properties available let for short-term use since 2016, rising to 32,000 in May 2019.
SHORT LETS LICENSING
Louise Dickins, who has run a short-term lettings company in Edinburgh for 21 years, told the BBC that although Airbnb has created huge supply and demand for short-lets in the city and stimulated the economy, she welcomes the proposed licencing.
“It will mean the council will know where all the [Airbnb] homes are and impose safety standards and deal more effectively when neighbours complain about noise,” she said.
David Cox, Chief Executive of ARLA Propertymark, has also welcomed the announcement: “In some urban areas, the supply of local housing is under intense pressure and as the private rental sector becomes increasingly regulated, landlords are moving further towards the less regulated short-term letting space.
“This can also result in lower quality accommodation for tenants and overall creates a vastly uneven playing field.”
Bristol city councillors also announced cross-party support yesterday for plans to control Airbnb listings in order to ensure a better-regulated market and introduce a more level playing field, although how this will achieved is yet to be agreed.
“There are 2,000 registered properties for Airbnb [in Bristol] and this is rising year on year,” says councillor Nicola Beech.
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