Landlord Licensing & Defence BLOG
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Court Fines, Civil Penalties and News
Councils teaching tenants how to reclaim rent from landlords
03 Mar 2021 A London council is running what it describes as “an innovative project” to help private tenants reclaim rent from landlords who fall foul of licensing rules. London Borough of Tower Hamlets council claims that over £200,000 has been reclaimed for...
Rent Repayment Order Magic Money Tree is pretty much dead!
03 Mar 2021 by Des Taylor & Phil Turtle, Landlord Licensing & Defence “Rent Arrears must be accounted for BEFORE rent is eligible to be reclaimed under a Rent Repayment Order (RRO).” At a stroke, this Judgement of the First-Tier Tribunal (in a case defended by...
£740k confiscation order against landlord over planning enforcement
01 Mar 2021 The legal team at Brent Council has secured a confiscation order worth nearly £740,000 against a landlord who rented out properties in Willesden in breach of planning enforcement notices. The council said it believed the order against Mohammed Mehdi Ali of...
How permitted development homes will be changed by the new space standards
01 Mar 2021 Guest post by Joey Gardener New rules will stop developers squeezing tiny homes into small buildings through permitted development, but will space standards resolve quality and location concerns? Housing campaigners secured a significant victory in...
Own goal! Failure to licence HMO cost ex-footballer £34,000
23 Feb 2021 A landlord who failed to licence his properties has been ordered to pay back over £8,000 in rent. Dexter Blackstock, a former professional footballer, has been told he has to refund £8,592.98 in housing benefit that he was paid for two unlicensed...
Jail threat and £140k fines after council probes HMO with illegal extensions
23 Feb 2021 A landlord who built unlawful extensions to a family home and squeezed up to 14 people into the rooms has forfeited the rent he was paid in a planning enforcement prosecution. Jagtar Phagura created five bedrooms in extensions built without planning...
It’s Rubbish being a Landlord: 40 Landlords Prosecuted by One Council for Tenants’ Mess
18 Feb 2021 A landlord’s firm has been fined after waste accumulated in the rear yard of a tenanted property. Elahi Properties of Blackburn was ordered to pay £1,259 by a court, comprised of a £750 court fine and £500 costs. The firm was summonsed to appear in court...
£22,000 landlord fine for inadequate fire precautions and poor maintenance
15 Feb 2021 Two landlords who let an unlicensed London HMO property without providing proper washing facilities or tackling serious fire hazards have been taken to court. The pair were fined over £22,000 after letting out a property in Hackney without proper...
Portsmouth lettings agency Kings Estates and Southsea landlord fined £18,000 for unlicensed 12-bed student house
11 Feb 2021 A LETTINGS agency has been fined £12,000 after council officers found 11 students living in a ‘high risk’ unlicensed converted pub. Portsmouth letting firm Kings Estates was initially handed a £6,000 fine by Portsmouth City Council after a tenant blew the...
Rogue Birmingham landlord endangering lives successfully prosecuted
George Lindsay, 55, from Erdington, has been successfully prosecuted and ordered to pay close to £20,000 for breaching housing regulations. The rogue landlord pleaded guilty for failing to obtain a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licence and to 13 breaches of HMO...
Court of Appeal upholds £99k penalties for breaches of HMO regulations and non-compliance with enforcement notices
05 Feb 2021 The Court of Appeal has rejected a company director's appeal over penalties amounting to £99,000 imposed by the Upper Tribunal for breaches of regulations covering houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), and non-compliance with enforcement notices. The...
Capitol Riot Suspects Self-Incriminate Just Like Landlords Do Every Day
19 Jan 2021 Capitol riot suspect Aaron Mostofsky (Source: New York Post, as cited in criminal complaint) Many of the insurrectionists who marched on the UA Capitol building on Jan. 6 and violently forced their way into the building stupidly livestreamed...
Landlord get £13,850 in fines for no HMO licence
19 Jan 2021 A landlord has been fined £10,000 by her local council for failing to licence a HMO. Tracey Davies of Bath was found guilty in her absence when the case came before magistrates in the city. The local authority - which says it was “acting on information...
Five Tenant Tricks to throw out a Section 21 eviction notice
19 Jan 2021 Landlords need to be in no doubt that tenants are being educed by councils, shelter, a wide range of no-win, no-fee ambulance chasers- and now tenants unions too - into not only the ‘tricks and hacks’ they can use to stop you being able to gain...
£66,000 fine for landlord letting out HMO with safety failings
15 Jan 2021 A landlord has been hit with what a local authority calls a record £66,000 fine after being found guilty of letting an HMO that was dangerous to tenants. Reading council prosecuted Mohammed Naseer Zamir, following its housing team’s findings at the...
Reading Borough Council fine landlord £66k for failing to meet fire safety requirements
13 Jan 2021 A LANDLORD has been slapped with a £66,000 fine over 'serious' safety breaches including plug sockets next to the shower, and repairs that risked residents being trapped in a fire. In a record attempt by Reading Borough Council (RBC) to clamp down on...
Landlord’s excuse for operating Unlicensed HMO not a ‘Reasonable Excuse’ finds Appeal to Upper Tribunal
05 Jan 2021 Thurrock Council has won an appeal from a decision of the First-tier Tribunal to cancel a civil penalty imposed for the offence of managing or being in control of a house in multiple occupation that is required by the Housing Act 2004 to be licensed, when...
The true Cost of Unlicensed HMOs
30 Jan 2020 A landlord in bath was fined £10,000 plus £4,000 costs and given a criminal record in Bath this month for not licensing her HMO. We see cases of this every week and the "going rate" is around £12,000 for not licensing an HMO. But that is only the...
£600,000 fine for damage to bat breeding site
22 Dec 2020 A major house builder has been ordered to pay what is understood to be the largest fine ever issued by a court in relation to a wildlife crime. On 8 December at Woolwich Crown Court, Bellway Homes pleaded guilty to the offence between 17 March 2018 and 17...
Yet another landlord gets £14,000 fine for not having HMO licence
17 Dec 2020 A landlord has been fined £10,000 by her local council for failing to licence a HMO. Tracey Davies of Bath was found guilty in her absence when the case came before magistrates in the city. The local authority - which says it was “acting on information...
Liverpool tries again to implement selective licensing tax
15 Dec 2020 In a cynical attempt to hide their revenue creation motive by stating: “The council makes no profit from the scheme. Every single pound we get from landlords would be ring-fenced, paying for our team [of enforcement officers] to be out on the streets...
Landlord denied licences despite past conviction being ‘spent’
10 Dec 2020 A London council has confirmed its right to refuse licenses to criminal landlords - even reformed ones. A story in the East London Guardian says Nasim Hussain and her daughter Farina took the Waltham Forest council to court after the family’s licences for...
Huge fine for HMO owner after refusal of planning consent
09 Dec 2020 A long-running case about a house divided up and let out without planning permission has resulted in a fine of nearly £10,000 for the owner. Brighton & Hove council investigated the property back in July 2018. The owner, Shirley White, had divided...
Tribunal upholds civil penalty notice and £8,852 fine on landlord
20 Nov 2020 A £4,550 fine, one of several imposed by the council, has been upheld after an appeal by the landlord was rejected by a property tribunal. Fenland council served five civil penalty notices on the landlord totalling £8852 earlier this year for failing...
Success! We bat 5 over zealous council court summonses into the long grass – defending older landlord
20 Nov 2020 A LONG READ – Well Worth it. Especially if you were born between 1950 and 1980 and, you are a LANDLORD. A client Of Landlord Licensing & Defence who has lived in abject terror for months due to bullying and ridiculous Local Council action had a Happy...
Council to crack down on Dorset Landlords in Dorset
04 Nov 2020 PRIVATE landlords who fail to stick to regulations and treat tenants unfairly can expect a tougher approach from Dorset Council. Senior council officers told a committee this week that they now had the backing, and funding, to adopt a tougher stance where...
Retail to Residential looks to increase the quality of rental property – lookout ‘average’ landlords!
29 Oct 2020 The high street was already struggling before the pandemic, but Covid-19 has perhaps sent it into terminal decline. High streets in major towns and cities across the UK are now virtual ghost-towns as office workers and tourists stay away. With the rise in...
Northampton Council takes Landlords house
29 Oct 2020 Northampton council is seeking a so-called Charging Order against a landlord who failed to carry out improvements to her property and then ignored the resulting £12,400 civil penalty. In December 2018, council officers carried out an inspection of the...
Tenant dies in HMO fire – landlord gets 4 months plus fines, Fire Safety Order
28 Oct 2020 A landlord has been prosecuted following the death of a tenant in a house fire at an HMO said to have had inadequate fire safety precautions. The case was brought by Luton council, working with Bedfordshire Police and Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue...
Landlord £300,000 property confiscated for planning breach & faces prison
26 Oct 2020 A London landlord who ignored six enforcement notices served by his local council has been ordered to pay over £300,000. Salim Mussa Patel from Southall has been made the subject of a confiscation order for £207,000, has been fined £50,000 and made to...
University acts Criminally putting Landlords in Danger of Prosecution
23 Oct 2020 Following the recent revelation that the University of Warwick is dumping hundreds of private landlords in favour of its own student accommodation , it has today come to light that as part of this strategy it appears to have deliberately put landlords...
Landlord who refused to pay for legal assistance gets stung for £28,000 in Rent Repayment Orders
19 Oct 2020 A Landlord who told our firm that he’d rather go out alone than pay £450 in fees for legal assistance has ended up with the inevitable DIY result of a massive Rent Repayment Order for £28,000. "Landlords who think they have the skills that they can handle...
Landlady fined £18k over unauthorised shared house
19 Oct 2020 A landlady has been landed with a court bill of more than £18,000 for continuing to rent out a student house after being denied planning permission. Shirley White, of Southgate, London, applied for planning permission to turn 41 Bevendean Crescent,...
Landlord fined for keeping tenant’s deposit in a tin
15 Oct 2020 A landlord has been ordered to pay his ex-tenant £1,500 after failing to protect her deposit with an approved scheme. The Housing and Property Chamber First-tier tribunal for Scotland found that Mark Bradley of Gourock had not protected his tenant’s...
Tenant in arrears? Text them! New research finds phone calls are too intimidating…
12 Oct 2020 Most tenants claim they are “intimidated” when agents or landlords telephone them about arrears - and they would much prefer a text. Warned Phil Turtle, compliance director with Landlord Licensing & Defence “Thus is potentially scary for...
Rogue rent-to-rent landlord will face prison if he tries to rent out property again
06 Oct 2020 A landlord has failed to overturn a ban from renting out properties after repeatedly putting tenants’ lives at risk by letting unsafe housing. Balazs Stalter was prosecuted earlier this year by Wandsworth Council’s housing team following complaints...
Enfield Council persecutes private landlords while leaving Council Tenant in “mouldy, mouse-infested” accommodation for three years
05 Oct 2020 Of course if a private landlord had left a disabled tenant and his whole family in "mouldy, mouse-infested” accommodation for three years, any council in the land would have thrown the book at them and issued Civil Penalty...
New Permitted Development Rights being challenged in Court
17 Sep 2020 A Divisional Court will next month hear campaign group Rights : Community : Action’s (RCA’s) judicial review challenge to the government’s new rules on permitted development. On 2 September Mr Justice Holgate directed that RCA’s claim should be heard over...
Civil penalty notices served on landlords who cannot be named
11 Sep 2020 Two landlords have been served with civil penalty notices for operating unlicensed HMOs. The notices were from Wellingborough council; one was for £6,000 and the other for £8,250. Details of the individuals and properties cannot be disclosed as the...
Criminal sentences after rental property carried “risk of death”
11 Sep 2020 Two suspended sentences, community service, a fine and disqualification from being a director - those form the penalty for a rogue landlord guilty of letting out a property as a dangerous and illegal hostel. After three years of serving prohibition notices...
Prison Sentence for Landlord over Poor Fire Safety
01 Sep 2020 A buy to let property owner has received a four month prison sentence for letting out a property he had already been warned was too dangerous to live in. Manmohan Sahib, of Ilford in Essex, was sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court after pleading guilty to...
“Screw your Landlord” Westminster City Council launches online tool encouraging HMO Tenants to claim Rent Repayment Orders
In a move designed to punish as many landlords as possible with crucifying Rent Repayment Orders of up to 12 months rent, City of Westminster has launched a "find out of you can screw your landlord" tool on their website. They are obviously using this 'hook' to get...
Coventry Landlord £180,000 Proceeds of Crime fine is just deserts
04 Aug 2020 Arrogant Maria Protheroe was paid income support payments after claiming she had no income – despite renting out a portfolio of properties the length of the country. The scheming property owner also lied to obtain mortgages to buy yet more houses – and...
Court fines Landlord £26,000 for rats and cockroaches in un-declared HMO
22 Jul 2020 A pregnant woman was among nine people put “at risk” by their landlords, who allowed their tenants’ home to become infested with rats and cockroaches. Barnet Council says its enforcement officers found a “severe cockroach infestation” at...
Speed cameras being used by Councils to create revenue new report – just like property licensing & Landlord Fines
16 Jul 2020 In a report by the Inspectorate of Police and Fire Services they accuse Safety Camera Partnerships (dominated by local authorities) of being cynical and putting cameras to generate revenue and not to save lives. What landlords need to know...
Bristol Council Starts Cynical campaign to bankrupt Landlords
13 Jul 2020 In another cynical move by landlord-hating councils, Bristol Council is encouraging tenants in the town who believe they have been mistreated by landlords to seek punitive rent repayment orders. Said Phil Turtle, director of Landlord Licensing &...
£10,000 fine per 2-bedroom shared house as Greenwich mounts witch-hunt to raise revenue
10 Jul 2020 Four buy to let investors have each been fined £10,000 for letting out unlicensed HMOs. The unlicensed properties , all in the Greenwich area, include a two-bedroom HMO rented to four separate tenants, a five-bedroom HMO rented to seven...
“All hands to the pumps” demands Lord Chancellor as he vows to catch up on Court and Tribunal cases
06 Jul 2020 The Lord Chancellor has agreed that there should be no constraints in the number of sitting days available during the COVID-19 recovery period for the courts or any hesitation in using fee-paid and deputy judges to fill any gaps which cannot be filled...
DON’T TALK TO THE COUNCIL!!!
03 Jul 2020 By Des Taylor A New Landlord hounded, bullied, harassed and falsely accused of breaking the law – until we put the bullies and the idiots in their place. Unjustified Enforcement yet again! READ THIS TRUE STORY – Every landlord needs to know the council is...
PM promises “biggest shakeup since the war” to not-fit-for-purpose planning system
01 Jul 2020 Build Build Build: Boris Johnson says he will make the most radical reforms to the planning system since the Second World War, making it easier to build where people want to live. New regulations will give greater freedom for buildings and land in our town...
Property Owner faces Confiscation for ignoring planning enforcement
30 Jun 2020 Two joint property owners have been found guilty of illegally sub-dividing a building into seven substandard flats in a prosecution brought by the London Borough of Camden. They now face confiscation of the property under the proceeds of crime act which...
Going Up! New Right to extend blocks of flats skywards
30 Jun 2020 Guest Post by Planning Consultant Colin Smith New permitted development right allowing two-storey upwards extensions to blocks of flats were published On 25 June 2020 by John Geoghegan. New rules allowing blocks of flats to be extended upwards by two...
Council Demolishes illegally occupied outbuilding. Issues £16,000 fine
25 Jun 2020 A property built without planning consent and then illegally let to a family has been knocked down by Ealing council in West London - and the owner has been sent the bill for the demolition job. Rapinder Kaur Sehajpal has been sent an invoice for £16,000...
Delight as Dominic Cummings pledges to take an axe to the planning system
29 Jun 2020 Boris Johnson’s most trusted, it somewhat controversial Seriously Advisor Dominic Cummings has pledged to “take an axe” to the planning system. In a conference call with government advisers that has mysteriously found its way into the pages of The...
Bristol landlord £5000 Rent Repayment Order
24 Jun 2020 Two Bristol landlords have been ordered to repay nearly £5,000 following investigations by the council’s so called rogue landlord unit. One, Lucy Sherry, was found to have breached the Protection from Eviction Act 1977. She was found to have harassed...
‘Landlord in Crisis’ Cases This Week
23 Jun 2020 The last two weeks has been hectic and often people see what we publish and ask what exactly do we do? Well here are some of the things we have covered in the last two weeks, no day is ever boring and it is a long read and these cases are all landlords...
‘Landlord in Crisis’ Cases Last Week
23 Jun 2020 The last two weeks has been hectic and often people see what we publish and ask what exactly do we do? Well here is the first half covering just some of the things we have covered in the last two weeks, no day is ever boring and it is a long read and these...
HMO Landlords: Guilty Until Proven Innocent
01 Apr 2020 Over the past year we have seen Mandatory HMO licensing increased in scope to include all properties with 5 or more occupants, where they belong to two or more households. Since this we have seen a dramatic increase in the use of prosecutions, civil...
Special Offer £71,600 – Rogue Landlord Special
A new case just in. A new slant on property investment: Here we have a landlord with a 6 Bed HMO in the Northern Home Counties. This case is a cookie-cutter duplicate based on a pattern we are seeing on a week in, week out, basis. It starts with a Council...
Landlord fined £87,000 for putting tenants in ‘serious danger’
11 Mar 2020 A private landlord has been prosecuted by Bristol City Council for providing private rented accommodation that posed a “serious risk to life”. Nine people were found living in cramped conditions in a small flat rented out by rogue landlord...
