Council fines HMO landlord £60,000 and directly manages property
A landlord who left his tenants without gas or electricity in an unlicensed HMO has been fined a whopping £60,000.
Coventry Council made its first Interim Management Order after the landlord persistently failed to licence the property in Monks Road, despite being asked to do so for several months.
Following a complaint from the tenants, environmental health officers discovered it was operating without a licence and that there were multiple breaches of the HMO management regulations.
It made the order as it believed there was no reasonable prospect of the HMO being licensed in the near future.
Tenants will now pay their rent to the council – whose housing and homelessness team is managing the HMO – while the landlord is still responsible for any mortgage payments.
Severe punishments
David Welsh (pictured), cabinet member for housing and communities, says it sends a clear message to landlords.
“The level of the financial penalty notice highlights the severe punishments that can be levied to those who flout the law,” he says.
“These fines are then ring-fenced for use by the team to further their enforcement work.”
Adrian Chowns, property licensing and housing enforcement manager, adds: “Our officers have worked tirelessly in the city to promote the HMO licensing scheme and to ensure that where landlords abandon their duties and responsibilities, the team is ready to step in to protect tenants and use the full range of enforcement powers at their disposal.”
