This month brought some huge fines, and news of a Council’s “Day of Action” to inspect properties and tackle rogue landlords in the borough.
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December’s Top Three Unlicensed Properties and Rogue Landlords:
Rogue landlord who crammed 15 tenants into three-bed Hillingdon house ordered to pay £430k
Gurdeep Kaur, a rogue landlord who packed 15 people into a modest home in Hillingdon, west London, has been ordered to pay more than £430k. After a 2 year investigation, immigration and the Hillingdon council planning department raided the property to find that Kaur had converted her house in Hillingdon without planning consent.
Tenants lived in terribly overcrowded conditions including at least one person living in an outbuilding. At Isleworth crown court, Kaur was ordered to pay £406,712, plus a £20,000 fine for the planning offence. In addition, the council was awarded more than £4,000 in prosecution costs.
Rogue landlord who risked his tenants’ lives ordered to pay £37k
Slough Borough Council has taken action against a rogue landlord who to date has refused to pay a fine of £37,000 after renting out rooms with dangerous electrics.
The man, who has not been named by the council, was fined £37,000 at a hearing in June due to a breach of management regulations and failing to comply with an improvement notice.
Following an application by the council to the County Court, the £37k fine has been placed on the property, and so the sum will have to be paid before the house, which is currently an HMO, can be sold.
Rooms were individually let out where single pieces of wire had been used instead of fuses and dangerous wiring was also found in an outbuilding believed to be used as rental accommodation. Requests for improvements to a basic safety standard were ignored, forcing the council to appoint a contractor to go into the property to make it safe.
Rhian Richards, housing regulation manager, commented: “People were living in dangerous conditions where there could have been a serious incident which could have put the tenants at risk of harm.
“We hope this will serve as a warning that we will be relentless in pursuing those landlords who put their tenant’s at risk and ignoring the law and our correspondence could prove very costly in the long run.”
Rogue landlord ordered to pay more than £150k in Dudley
Latif Rehman, a rogue landlord considered a significant player in the Dudley PRS (Private Rented Sector), has been ordered by Wolverhampton Magistrates Court to pay more than £150k after failing to fix several safety hazards in his property. Back in 2017, Rehman was fined £340k for illegally converting houses into bedsits.
Following an initial complaint from a tenant, Dudley Council’s private sector housing team inspected the property and advised the landlord make changes to the property. After a follow up inspection, it was clear that Rehman had not taken the necessary steps to rectify a range of hazards relating to fire and electrical safety, as well as risk of entry by intruders, and damp in the property.
Rehman could now face a rent repayment order and a banning order. Alan Lunt, deputy chief executive at Dudley Council, said: “Landlords are not above the law. They must comply with standards to fulfil their legal responsibility to protect the safety of their tenants.
“This case demonstrates that we take these cases very seriously and will take action against anyone failing to fulfil their obligation.”
Total top three story fines reported in trade press this month: £807k
Thurrock Council holds a ‘day of action’ to crack down on non-compliant landlords letting out unlicensed house and flat shares. An Additional Licensing scheme is in operation over parts of Thurrock meaning that properties let to 3 or 4 people, forming at least 2 or more households, require licences to be legally let out. This in addition to the nationwide Mandatory licensing in place applying to large HMOs.
Cllr Barry Johnson, Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “By working with landlords to ensure privately rented homes are safe and well managed, we can ensure that those living in shared flats and houses have access to a good quality and safe home.
“We will continue to work proactively with our partners to tackle unlicensed HMOs, bad practise by landlords such as overcrowding and poor property maintenance, and protect tenants’ rights.”
You can report concerns about a HMO property at thurrock.gov.uk/hmo
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