City of Lincoln Council wins the battle against three landlords with properties in Lincoln who have failed to comply with a number of regulations to protect their tenants.

On Monday, Colm Walsh-Kavanagh of Northgate, Newark was fined more than £1,400 for preventing his tenant from entering his property of occupation on Carholme Road.

On 5 November, Mr Graham Smith of Church Road, Saxilby was fined £16,500 for operating an unlicensed House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) with two associated HMO management regulations offences and on 22 October, Mr Patrick John Sweeney of Western Avenue, Lincoln was fined more than £41,000 for breaching 20 offences relating to HMO management regulations and two offences of non-compliance with an Improvement Notice.

Cllr Donald Nannestad, Portfolio Holder for Quality Housing at City of Lincoln Council, said: “Our Private Housing and Legal team have done a great job in protecting the safety of a number of tenants who were occupying these hazardous HMOs and in the most recent case, the rights of one tenant who was unlawfully shut out of his home.

“The council recognises that most landlords supply safe and well-managed accommodation and will always aim to educate and work with private landlords informally prior to commencing enforcement action.

“However, these three landlords had a duty of care to protect their tenants and failed to do so, which is something City of Lincoln Council will not tolerate.

“We are happy to have brought justice to a number of our residents through these proceedings and will continue to crack down on rogue landlords in Lincoln.”

Mr Walsh-Kavanagh was charged £1,412.16 including costs, victim surcharge and £300 compensation directly to the victim for unlawfully depriving the residential occupier from entering his home by removing the door handle to his bedroom and changing the locks to both his bedroom door and front door to the property.

Mr Smith was fined £16,500 including costs and victim surcharges for offences related to a property in the Sincil Bank area which contained no fire doors and an unsuitable fire alarm system which did not meet the required standard for a licensable HMO. The property also contained inadequate bathroom facilities for the six tenants.

Mr. Sweeney was fined a total of £41,739.43 including costs and victim surcharges for a number of offences related to two properties at St Catherine’s, Lincoln that were each converted into four self-contained flats and were not brought up to current standards.

The properties had numerous hazards including inadequate heating, draughty and insecure windows, missing and broken smoke alarms, severe damp and condensation, ill-fitting fire doors and holes in the internal structure allowing fire to spread, and defective and insanitary toilets and shower rooms.

The law changed on 1 October 2018 requiring landlords across the country to hold a licence for Houses in Multiple Occupation for a HMO of any number of storeys, occupied by five or more people who are not from the same family. Landlords needing to apply for an HMO licence can do so at www.housinglicensing.lincoln.gov.uk.

City of Lincoln Council operates a Trusted Landlord Scheme which recognises and promotes professional standards in the private renting sector and gives confidence to tenants. To sign up, visit https://www.lincoln.gov.uk/lincoln/signup-to-become-a-trusted-landlord/

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