Owner hit with £60,000 in fines over substandard property

A landlord has been hit with court fines for a fourth time for failing to properly manage his rental properties. 

Landlord Jack Collins has been found guilty and ordered to pay £25,324.60 within two months for failing to maintain a property at Beeston in Yorkshire.

Collins denied exposing vulnerable tenants to sub-standard housing conditions over a prolonged period of time including defective fire doors and a broken fire alarm, exposed electrical cables, rotten windows, no heating or hot water for a six month period during which one tenant was left without washing facilities.

Collins had been prosecuted for offences at the same property in February 2018 and had to pay £8,655 including fines and costs. On that occasion it was for failing to comply with improvement notices served by the local authority to ensure safety of tenants.

In addition, Collins had been fined on two other occasions in the past two years for poor conditions in his Beeston properties.

Over the four prosecutions Collins has incurred fines and costs totalling £59,217 initiated by the council.

His property is located in one of the two recently designated Selective Licensing areas. 

Councillor Debra Coupar says: “It was unacceptable to expect vulnerable people at this property in Beeston to live day to day in appalling conditions, resulting in considerable distress for the tenants, due to the behaviour of this landlord.

“Landlords have a responsibility in law, and to their tenants, to ensure that they adhere to and comply fully with the housing regulations including proper and timely management. In this particular case, like previous occasions, this landlord fell considerably short of the standard expected, which is why we pursued this action through the courts that resulted in the court ordering him to pay over £20,000.

“The safety of our residents remains our top priority and I want to send out the clear message that we will seek to use a range of enforcement tools if, as in this case, legislation has been disregarded by a landlord and a resident is living in a property that is substandard.”