72 year old must pay £4,800 after 11 breaches of HMO regulations

A private landlord aged 72 must pay £4,800 after pleading guilty to 11 offences of breaching the Licensing and Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Additional Provisions)(Wales) Regulations 2007 and two other offences. 

They all relate to a property in Cardiff which at the time of the offences was being let out by landlord Khizar Choudry.

The property had been held by him in trust for his children and had been transferred into their ownership in September 2015, after the offences were committed. 

A court in Cardiff has head that Choudry fully co-operated with the investigation and many of the offences he had simply been unaware of. Choudry accepted that the property had deteriorated over a period of time and that he should have inspected the property more regularly.

In sentencing District Judge Bodfan Jenkins accepted that the defendant was 72 years old with no previous convictions. He accepted that the defendant was no longer a landlord and there was no risk of further offending. He accepted that these offences were regulatory in nature but that the legislation existed to protect the safety of tenants.

District Judge Bodfan Jenkins went on to say that Choudry ignored his duty as a landlord and believed this was quite clearly a family business with the defendant as the figurehead. Choudry failed to ensure that he, a family member or an agent inspected the property or ran the business in a safe or legitimate manner.

Choudry was fined a total of £1,867.50 and ordered to pay £2,938.00 in costs.