A court order freezing the assets of a landlord jailed when one of his tenants nearly died in a fire at his property has been extended as the victim has launched a £2m compensation claim.
Twenty-year-old Norwich woman Layla Skalli has launched the claim in the High Court as she still suffers from chronic pain after receiving 80 percent burns to her body in the blaze, which broke out at her single rented room in April last year.
At the time of the incident, doctors stated her chances of survival were negligible as, in addition to the burns, she had near-lethal carbon monoxide levels and organ failure and had to undergo a nine-hour operation to remove all of her burnt skin.
Her ex-landlord Michael Billings was sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment on May 5 this year after admitting breaches of health and safety regulations.
The judge later “varied” that term to 21 months after 55-year-old Billings, said to own 600 properties nationwide, offered to pay Ms Skalli £20,000 “by way of part compensation”.
Ms Skalli, however, took the decision to seek higher compensation and at a High Court pre-trial hearing recently the Judge agreed to continue an order “freezing” £2million of Billings' assets.
Ms Skalli believes the money should be earmarked for her compensation; in effect granting her £1.6 million in damages plus interest of £400,000.
However Billings is disputing liability and the amount of compensation sought.
The case is expected to return to court within six weeks for a case management review.
No date has been fixed for the full hearing.
• Hart District Council has joined forces with the National Landlords Association (NLA) to offer accreditation based on NLA landlord development.
The scheme is also in place under six other authorities across England, and is intended to become a national initiative.
Hart Council believes accreditation will provide recognition to responsible, professional landlords and help promote the private-rented sector as the tenure of choice.
As a member of the accreditation scheme, landlords will be entitled to a number of benefits from the council.
These include membership of the Hart Accredited Landlords Network, which will be a landlord-led network, meeting about three times a year to share current issues and invite other professionals to address specific topics of interest.
Other benefits include the Hart Accredited Landlords booklet, giving up-to-date contact names and details for key services; an enhanced service from Rent Bond Officer, equating to telephone contact with both tenant and landlord within the first month of any new tenancy and access to the Hart Rent Bond Scheme, which entitles landlords to direct payments of Local Housing Allowance (LHA) if their tenants qualify for this benefit.
To become an accredited landlord participants need to complete a straightforward foundation course.
The course can be taken online by completing the “core subjects” in the landlord library, which provides ongoing landlord development and can be accessed at www.nlalandlordlibrary.org.uk.
Or the first foundation course in Hart is being held at the Church on the Heath, Fleet, on Friday, June 25 and costs £85 to NLA members.
