Paul Davies of Tamworth road, kettle brook, pleaded guilty to eleven charges of breaching regulations in place regarding owning and maintaining an HMO (house of multiple occupation) property on the 14th October 2014, these charges included; not keeping a fire escape route in good repair, failing to keep a fire escape clear from obstruction, failure to provide gas and electrical certificates and not maintaining common parts in safe and acceptable repair. These charges were brought to light after he had failed to comply with an improvement notice for the common areas of the block of flats; as a result of this he has now been fined £24,541.
After private sector housing officers inspected the properties on more than one occasion between October 2013 and February 2014 the case was taken to Tamworth borough council, these actions were taken due to the inspections finding damaged and missing fire doors, no available heating, no gas or electricity certificates, filthy common areas, broken windows, exposed wiring from damaged fittings, damaged emergency lighting, a lack of artificial light and cooking appliances in a state deemed unacceptable.
The fine included costs of £5,661 and a victim surcharge of £120, with this Mr Davies was also found guilty of failing to maintain the individual flats within the block, fixtures and fittings, individual appliances, protecting the tenants from injury and failing to complete the works ordered by the improvement notice.
In an HMO property tenants have their own bedrooms but share the communal areas including the kitchen, bathroom and living room. If such a property is occupied by 5 or more unrelated tenants and is greater than 3 storeys by law the owner of the property must have a license in place to accommodate these factors.
The local authority are now warning that legal action will be taken in order to protect the tenants who are currently living in unlicensed HMO properties and also where landlords are not taking up the correct duties keeping the properties maintained under the management regulations.
Following this case Councillor Daniel Cook – Leader of Tamworth Borough council said; “where possible we work with landlords to give help and advice to ensure the properties are up to a decent standard, however in cases such as this where urgent and necessary improvements are not made we will take enforcement action which sends a clear message to landlords while also ensuring tenants feel protected”
With more concerns being raised due to similar incidents council are now carrying out more random inspections of rented accommodations to ensures these properties are in a good and safe condition for the residents, landlords are also being encouraged to contact the local borough council if they have any questions or queries in relation to their duties that they must uphold as property managers or property developers included whether or not they need to obtain the correct licensing for the properties they rent out.
