A landlord and property manager have been ordered to pay a total of £28,529 for illegally operating a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) together, following a successful prosecution by Bath & North East Somerset Council.
The pair pleaded guilty to failing to licence a licensable HMO in Radstock, under the Mandatory Licensing rules within the Housing Act 2004.
Bath Magistrates Court ordered them to pay £1,144.86 in costs and a £120 victim surcharge each, in addition to fines of £14,000 for the landlord and £12,000 for the property manager, on Monday, 23rd May.
The prosecution follows inspections carried out by Council inspectors last year, which found that the HMO was operating without a licence and had fire safety issues.
This included no fire alarms, broken sockets exposing live electrical wires, a bedroom window that did not open, and a dangerous layout with key locks on bedroom doors which could prevent a quick escape during a fire.
There were also disrepair issues in the property that had been caused by a previous leak.
The property is now licenced and the majority of remedial works have been carried out to bring the property up to current safety standards.
Councillor Liz Richardson (Conservative, Chew Valley North), Cabinet Member for Homes & Planning, said: “We are pleased with the result of this prosecution and that the court recognised the seriousness of the offence.
“Where there are clear breaches of legislation, such as in this case, the Council will not take any non-compliance lightly and will take strong enforcement action in order to safeguard tenants. We will always try to work in partnership with landlords and agents to improve housing standards and in the majority of cases landlords work hard to comply.
“We want to ensure that those living in HMOs, as well as those living in the local neighbourhood, can enjoy a good quality of life.”
Mandatory Licensing rules apply to larger HMOs throughout England with three or more storeys and five or more occupants.
The Council also introduced an Additional Licensing Scheme in 2014 which specifies that landlords within the designated area must apply for a licence if they want to operate an HMO, which helps to ensure that occupants are living in safe and well managed properties.
The designated area covers the Council’s electoral Wards of Oldfield and Westmoreland, a large part of Widcombe and small sections of the adjoining Wards of Bathwick, Lyncombe, Southdown and Twerton.
Since the Council introduced the Additional Licensing scheme in Bath and North East Somerset in January 2014, one landlord has been successfully prosecuted in April 2016 and a further 15 cautions have been issued to landlords for failing to licence properties.
A review is to be undertaken this year by the Council to look at the standard and condition of HMOs in the area and how the Council can better manage the growth of HMOs.
As part of the review, the Council will be encouraging people to have their say and come forward with their views. Further details of how you can get involved will be announced in due course.
