A KENT landlord has been fined a massive £99,000 and ordered to pay costs of £5,835 by magistrates after admitting he failed to comply with regulations on the management of houses in multiple occupancy.
Ludomir Szulc, who the court heard rented out bedsits in his eight-bedroom property in Priestlands Park Road, Sidcup, admitted 22 offences discovered by Bexley Council environmental health inspectors.
The inspectors found inadequate fire precautions, and filthy kitchens and bathrooms. The court was told that council officers attempted to work with the landlord to resolve the problems but eventually decided to prosecute when he failed to make proper improvements.
Szulc was fined £99,000 and ordered to pay costs to the council of £5,835.
Councillor John Waters, council cabinet member for housing, said: “I thought this sort of irresponsible behaviour had been stamped out decades ago and am delighted the court imposed a very heavy penalty.”
• AN OXFORD landlord has been found guilty of offences under the Housing Act 2004 after Social Services who were concerned about the poor state of the property.
Imran Mohammed of 108 Crescent Road, was fined £6,100 and ordered to pay the Council's costs of £2,021.25, following an inspection of his property in Cricket Road, Oxford by Environmental Health Officers.
The house was occupied by five tenants, two of which had been placed there by Social Services, who were paying Oxford Letting and Property Management.
During the inspection it was discovered that the battery to the smoke alarm in the ground floor hallway had been removed, the smoke alarm on the first floor landing had been completely removed and the heat alarm in the kitchen had been completely removed. In addition the door handle to the fire door in the kitchen was missing.
There was also missing and perished plaster for the walls in the kitchen and the washing machine was not in working order, and had leaked over the lean-to area at the rear of the property.
There was also a pile of rubbish in the garden and no sign displayed in a prominent position stating the name, address and telephone contact number of the manager of the property.
Mr Imran Mohammed failed to properly complete and return a notice from the Council requesting information and failed to respond to a request to send in any comments on the state of his property. Mr Mohammed also failed attend an interview which had already been rearranged at his request.
• A LANDLORD who ignored an order from Blyth Valley Council to improve a property in which tenants' safety was put at risk has been fined £3,500 at South-East Northumberland Law Courts.
Harjit Singh Bariana failed to carry out health and safety improvement work on the property in Salisbury Street, Blyth.
After being alerted by the police, council officials and officers from the Northumberland fire service found a lack of fire protection and inadequate means of escape.
Bariana was served a formal notice to put the problems right, but no works were ever completed.
• DUMPING building waste on his own land in North Devon countryside has resulted in a landlord being fined £26,800.
Robert Burgess, of Avenue Road, Ilfracombe, admitted to Barnstaple Magistrates' Court that he had taken debris from a flat he was refurbishing and dumped it close to the edge of a 55 acre site he owns in Muddiford
Burgess pleaded guilty to one charge of dumping controlled waste without a permit, but not guilty to a charge of dumping waste likely to cause pollution. He also pleaded not guilty to failing to take reasonable precautions to prevent waste dumping.
He was found guilty of all charges, fined £26,800 and ordered to pay £986 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.
Burgess rents out flats to tenants in Ilfracombe.
