LATEST: Rogue landlord in Cambridge banned for 30 months from PRS

A rogue landlord has been handed a 30-month banning order for failing to repair his unsafe HMO, rated a ‘zero star’ property by a First Tier Property Tribunal.

Cambridge Council added Paul Sanderson, also known as Fleet Cooke, to the rogue landlord database after he admitted four counts of failing to comply with an improvement notice issued in relation to his HMO in the city’s Perne Road (pictured), and was fined £4,000.

The offences were: failure to provide a safe, suitable and efficient space heating appliance; failure to provide a suitable fire alarm system in the kitchen; failure to investigate and remedy penetrating damp and other kitchen repairs; and failure to renew a broken bathroom window. All works should have been completed by January 2017.

The tribunal heard how council inspectors had found three of the hazards still remained in January 2020; they feared the landlord would continue to rent it out, along with his other property in Mowbray Road, to multiple tenants without a banning order.

Sanderson argued that the problems had been blown out of proportion and that he was too poor to carry out the works required.

Options open

The 77-year-old said he earnt his living selling second-hand cars to eke out his pension and although he had no plans to let any of the rooms in Mowbray Road, he wanted to keep the option open for when he was no longer well enough to work.

The tribunal ruled: “The property…was clearly in a very poor condition, far below a reasonable standard, let alone what is expected of private rented property given the emphasis placed on decent homes in the last few years. Mr Sanderson referred to putting his property in 5-star condition: in the tribunal’s opinion this property would attract no stars at all.”

Sanderson appears to have sold the Perne Road property, which an agent’s website suggests has been sold for a SSTC price of £650,000.

In 2013, local media reported that South Cambridge District Council had warned Sanderson he could face prison if he continued trading without planning permission from a car lot labelled an eyesore by local residents.

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