We have seen some record breaking fines now in May, including a £300,000 fine handed out to a rogue landlord in Southwark. But it’s not just landlords that are getting fined, property managers all over the country are also experiencing increases in fines of non compliance…
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May Top Rogue Landlords
Massive fine of £268,000 to rogue landlord in Southwark
A landlord has been ordered to pay £268,000 to avoid a prison sentence after cramming up to 12 people in his South London apartments in Southwark. The landlord squeezed seven flats into a development designed for six by splitting one apartment in half, attracting the attention of Southwark Council.
The landlord also added extra bedrooms to rent out as holiday rentals and temporary accommodation without authorisation. The landlord was issued with a planning enforcement notice ordering him to comply with planning permission in 2017. However he ignored the order, pleading guilty at a hearing at Croydon Magistrates in February 2021.
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Property company fined £20,000
A Yorkshire property company has been fined £20,000 for failing to carry out safety and fire safety improvement works on a property in Kirkburn, Driffield after ignoring requests to do so by housing officers. Following the complaints, an inspection took place and officers found the safety of the tenants was at risk due to a lack of smoke and heat detectors. There was also a collapsed ceiling, no lighting in the hallway, and windows and patio doors that would not open or lock properly.
The company was asked to deal with the issues, and despite assurances repair and safety work would be carried out, further inspections carried out by housing officers in December 2020 and January 2021 saw the requests had been ignored. Legal notices were then served on the company which were also not complied with, and court proceedings issued. GAP Properties (Yorkshire) Ltd was fined a total of £20,000, ordered to pay costs of £3,419.57, and a victim surcharge of £190.
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Rogue landlord handed a 30-month banning order
A rogue landlord has been handed a 30-month banning order for failing to repair his unsafe HMO. Cambridge Council added the landlord to the rogue landlord database after he admitted four counts of failing to comply with an improvement notice issued in relation to his HMO and was fined £4,000.
The offences were: failure to provide a safe, suitable and efficient space heating appliance; failure to provide a suitable fire alarm system in the kitchen; failure to investigate and remedy penetrating damp and other kitchen repairs; and failure to renew a broken bathroom window. All works should have been completed by January 2017.
The tribunal heard how council inspectors had found three of the hazards still remaining in January 2020; they feared the landlord would continue to rent it out, along with his other property in Mowbray Road, to multiple tenants without a banning order. Sanderson argued that the problems had been blown out of proportion and that he was too poor to carry out the works required.
