Havering Council has a served a landlord with two financial penalty notices (FPN) totalling £12,500 for poor management of a HMO (Houses in multiple occupation).
The landlord of the premises located in Albany Road, Hornchurch, was given the penalty of £10,000 when it was found to have no working fire alarms.
A further £2,500 was issued for the lack of hygiene and high levels of mould inside a shared bathroom.
The Council’s private sector landlord licensing officers visited the house in August last year.
It found the large seven-bedroom premises failed to meet the legal requirement for HMO standards.
It had no fire detection and hygiene levels were well below required standards across the property.
This included smoke alarms not working, no fire doors, poor ventilation and lack of cleaning resulting in black mould, which could, if left, would affect tenant’s health.
The Courts and Tribunals Service refused an appeal lodged by the landlord against the penalty fines in October.
This was due to a lack of evidence in defending his case and the landlord now has a fortnight to pay the fines.
Councillor Viddy Persaud, Havering’s Cabinet Member for Public Protection and Safety, said:
“Under our Landlord Licensing Scheme, we are continuing to crack down on irresponsible landlords.
"Those that are taking advantage of local families and individuals by providing poorly maintained HMO properties.
“We won’t tolerate it and neither will we stand for landlords not having the correct licences.
“We are also here to support landlords to help them make sure tenants are living safely in private rented accommodation in Havering.
“However, landlords of HMOs that break the rules must be aware that we will use the strongest possible action against them.”
The Council’s successful Landlord Licensing Scheme has recently been extended to cover 18 wards across the borough.
It has seen over £455,000 worth of FPNs issued since it was launched in March 2018.
It will also help:
- private rented properties offer residents a choice of safe, quality and well-managed accommodation
- tackle anti-social behaviour in partnership with a multi-agencies.
- take enforcement action on landlords that operate below-standard accommodation and regulate unlicensed properties
- to provide support to landlords who meet HMO standards and licensing requirements to continue to provide good quality accommodation
- to meet cleanliness and hygienic standards around Covid 19.