Issue 20 - Recent Court Cases

Over-crowding and HMO licensing cases

A couple, prosecuted by Boston Borough Council, have been found guilty of 26 offences relating to a rental property and ordered to pay a total of £26,822. Dr Kola Akindele and his wife Vanessa had denied all charges but presiding magistrate Kevin Moody said he did not accept the version of events by Mrs Akindele for how the property came to be in such poor condition. Mrs Akindele had blamed the flood of December 2013 for the condition of the property. Dr Akindele chose not to give any evidence.

Magistrates heard that it was operated as an HMO but had no licence and had no fire detection equipment fitted. There were also issues with water penetration through a flat roof, damp, and unsafe electrical systems.

Mr Andrew Elcock, a housing enforcement officer from Boston Borough Council, talked the court through a large collection of photographs he had taken at the property. He said they showed water penetration, damp in various rooms through the roof and windows, including an attic room, dangerous electrical fittings including a double socket in a bathroom, exposed wiring and an unprotected old-style fuse board, and other hazards, such as a missing stairs handrail, missing spindle in a staircase balustrade and kitchen fittings kept in unsafe and unsanitary condition.

Mr Graham Almack, a Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue fire safety officer, said the property had no fire doors and no adequate fire detection system. He said the standard wooden doors fitted throughout the property would last just a few minutes in a fire. He rated the property at the higher end of risk. Mr Elcock said a fire door would give 30 minutes protection. 

Mr Almack said the main escape route from the property in the event of a fire was not protected and that combustible materials were stored in one room.

Mr Moody said the fines reflected what could have happened at the property which could have led to serious injury or even death.

For more information, see http://www.boston.gov.uk/housingnews

• In another case, a landlord from Plymouth has been hit with costs of nearly £25,000 after renting out substandard houses to 30 people without a licence. The landlord pleaded guilty to four cases of failing to apply for an HMO licence. He also failed to comply with improvement notices, leaving 12 tenants without adequate heating. Plymouth City Council prosecuted Mayer as part of its campaign to tackle rogue landlords.

• In a separate case, two landlords have been fined £36,340 after pleading guilty to 30 offences relating to five properties where they failed to get HMO licences for homes in Hounslow, where 30 people lived. Hounslow Council which took them to court claims that the landlords simply wanted to get in as much rent as possible. The enforcement team found poor conditions, including dumped rubbish, fire alarms that did not work and a blocked fire escape.

• In yet another case of over-crowding, a landlord who converted a terrace north London house into nine flats, raking in £100,000 a year in rent, has been ordered to pay £20,000.Haringey Council investigators found toilet rooms squeezed into the corners of kitchens, and said that landlord had ignored repeated demands to stop using the property as separate flats. The landlord must now convert the house into three more reasonably size flats.

Source: www.propertyindustryeye.com/landlords-hit-with-large-fines-after-pleading-guilty-to-hmo-charges/

Fire danger

In a landmark case a landlord has been jailed for four months and landed with a £10,000 bill after leaving his tenants in danger of fire.

The sentence seems unusual in that it has not been imposed after any actual fire, and could be a sign that some courts are ready to take a significantly harder line over breaches where there has been no outcome. Previous cases have generally concerned inspections of properties only after blazes and, inevitably, tragedies where tenants have been unable to escape.

In another case, a landlord of 30 years, was jailed recently for four months for a string of offences, including blocked escape routes, communal electrical items that had not been certified and there were trip-hazardous carpets. He was served an enforcement notice

which required all the breaches to be rectified within six months but he appeared at Reading Crown Court after admitting to 12 breaches of fire safety regulations. He was sentenced to four months imprisonment on each count, to run concurrently, and ordered to pay costs of £9,876.

Judge Alexia Durran said that Hussein’s experience as a landlord and his blatant disregard for the particular property had forced her to send him to prison.

Source: http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/landlord-jailed-for-leaving-tenants-without-smoke-alarms/

This case comes as landlords are now required to provide smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in rented properties from 1^st October 2015. More details can be found in Issue 19 of the Lincolnshire Landlords newsletter.

Gas safety

A landlord has been fined after a defective gas appliance was found to be in operation at his premises in Bedford. In February this year his tenants felt unwell and contacted the gas helpline.

An engineer arrived and stopped the property’s gas supply as carbon monoxide was found to be present. He advised the tenants to go to hospital. Subsequently it was found the gas hob was defective. British Gas capped off the hob as immediately dangerous.

Prosecuting, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) told Luton Magistrates’ Court that the landlord had a gas hob, gas cooker and boiler under contract from a gas provider. However, he had not had the hob gas safety checked in January 2015, as required by law.

HSE told the court that landlords must ensure all gas appliances are not only checked for safety, but maintained in a safe condition.

The landlord admitted breaching Regulation 36(2)(a) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, and was fined £265 with costs of £845.

For more information, see www.hse.gov.uk

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