A total of 11 adults, a child and a baby were found to be living at an HMO in 183 Wells Road, Bristol when it was inspected by housing officers from Bristol City Council. They decided to prosecute the landlords after also finding a series of offences including:

* Failure to provide adequate fire safety at the property.
* Failure to ensure the shared areas of the property were maintained in a good and clean decorative order.
* Failure to ensure the property was kept in good repair.
* Failure to provide lighting in many of the shared areas of the property.
* Keeping a property whose structure was a danger to the health of the occupiers.
* Failure to provide information about the property when required to do so.

Jasbir Baryah, Gurdip Baryah, Sharanjit Baryah and Tajinder Baryah of Regent Street, Clifton, Bristol, and Fishponds Road, Bristol, were summonsed to appear before Bristol Magistrates Court in relation to alleged offences under the Housing Act 2004 and the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976.

They failed to attend and in their absence evidence was given by the council that attempts had been made to work with the landlords to turn the management of the property around as the condition of the property was very poor and posed a serious threat to the health of its Bulgarian residents.

However, these attempts proved unsuccessful. The defendants were found guilty on all charges. Sharanjit Baryah, Tajinder Baryah, Gurdip Baryah and Jasbir Baryah were each fined £800 for failure to comply with a notice requiring information on the property to be provided.

Each defendant was ordered to pay £193.65 in costs and a £15 victim surcharge. Jasbir Baryah and Gurdip Baryah were each fined £13,818.15 under section 234(3) of the Housing Act 2004 for management regulations breaches found at the property by inspecting officers.

The pair was each ordered to pay £2,206.50 in costs.

The combined fines totalled £30,036.30 and combined costs totalled £5,199.60.

Cllr Anthony Negus, Cabinet Member for Housing, Property Services and Regeneration, said: “Bristol City Council is committed to working with private landlords to maintain and improve the quality of housing in the city.

“We can offer a range of advice and support to help landlords comply with legislation. However, where landlords refuse to co-operate and where there are serious breaches of the Housing Act then we can and will take legal action to compel them to bring improvements.

“It is completely unacceptable for tenants to be expected to live in such poor quality housing, particularly where it potentially puts lives at risk.”