HMO landlords fined £11,000 for mismanaging properties

HMO landlords fined £11,000 for mismanaging properties

16:44 PM, 27th February 2012, About 13 years ago

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Two landlords were fined £11,000 for breaking house in multiple occupation management rules.

After the successful prosecutions, Newport City Council, South Wales, has warned that local enforcement teams are cracking down on landlords who ignore housing laws.

In the first case, Saeed Zafar was found guilty in his absence by magistrates on charges of failing to licence an HMO and not running the property properly.

A council team visited his property where seven tenants lived in a flat and bedsits in York Place, Newport and found it was in poor condition with a number of failings.

Zafar was fined £2,000 for failing to licence the property as a HMO and £500 each on eight breaches of the management regulations. Magistrates at Newport also ordered him to pay costs of £974.

Zafar appealed the conviction, but it was upheld at Cardiff Crown Court.

In a separate case, Louis Marshall, was found guilty in his absence at Abergavenny Magistrates Court for failing to renew a HMO licence.

He registered a property as an HMO in Newport in 2006. The licence lasted five years, but an inspection carried out after the renewal date revealed the property was still being used as an HMO.

Marshall was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £744 costs.

Councillor William Routley, cabinet member for regulation, said: “Running an HMO is a serious responsibility and, by law, requires a licence to ensure the property is suitable and safe for those living there and that it is being properly managed.

“The council is determined to ensure that all HMOs in the city are licensed and the licensing conditions are met. We give advice to landlords about their obligations and will not hesitate to take action against those who ignore that advice.”


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