More big fines handed out in latest licensing legal actions
More big fines have been handed out in recent licensing legal actions regarding buy to let investors who have not stuck by local council licensing rules.
In Flintshire, Wales, a landlord who let a disused pub to up to 40 people has been fined over £15,000.
Hayden Rogers was prosecuted by Flintshire council for letting the Old Quay House in Connah’s Quay as an HMO without a licence; a council report claimed it was in “appalling condition.”
Rogers was fined £2,000 after being found guilty in his absence of not having a licence; he was also found guilty of 11 breaches of the regulations and fined £1,000 for each offence. With costs, the total bill came to £15,633.
Meanwhile in Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, a landlord has been hit with a £16,000 fixed penalty notice fine for running an unlicensed HMO.
The council has not named the individual but it says the penalty signals the start of a tougher approach to managing private sector landlords, ahead of the mandatory licensing of HMOs coming in on October 1.
National statistics show the likelihood of a fire occurring in a HMO is three times more than in a single family dwelling, the council says.
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