Warwick District Council’s clampdown on landlords who are not properly licensed or do not meet minimum health and safety standards continued this week when they successfully prosecuted another Leamington landlord.
It follows quickly on the heels of the fining of another landlord in the same town last week. In what is believed to be the first decision of its kind in the UK, a tribunal made the landlord pay 15 students back a total of £18,540.
In the latest case landlord Harminder Satsavia was fined more than £20,000 including costs for infringements at a flat in Ranelagh Street, Leamington.
The charges included not having a ‘house in multiple occupation’ licence for the seven students who had occupied the property which was above a pub. Satsavia charged the students £1,750 a month but failed to carry out repairs of some dangerous wiring faults. Inspectors also found there was no proper fire alarm system or emergency lighting. Environmental health officers also found rotting wooden decking, damp inadequate ventilation in a bathroom and no ceiling in a toilet area.
The property is actually owned by Satsavia’s father, but it was he who was prosecuted and fined £12,000 for not having a correct licence, £6,000 for breaches of management regulations, and costs of £2,070.
