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Unlicensed landlord fined
₤8,000 AN unlicensed landlord has been fined ₤8,000
plus costs by a District Judge in Liverpool.
Liverpool's Landlord Licensing Scheme came into force last year with the aim of
driving up standards in the private rented sector, and action is now being taken
against those who are still refusing to sign up.
Landlords have to meet a variety of conditions around fire, electric and gas
safety rectifying disrepair issues, tackling pest infestations, keeping the
exterior in a good state of repair and dealing with complaints about anti social
behaviour caused by tenants.
Shane Tennyson, of Primrose Street in Belfast was convicted at Liverpool
Magistrates Court of renting out an unlicensed property in Maxton Road in
Kensington.
He was also convicted of a 2nd charge of not providing Liverpool City Council
with information about the house by failing to comply with a legal notice served
on him.
Councillor Frank Hont, Cabinet member for housing, said:- "It must be stressed
that a large proportion of landlords are working very positively with us and are
abiding by the rules around licensing. However, there are still landlords who
have refused to engage and have not signed up, and it is those that we are now
targeting. The level of the fine shows that the Courts take this issue extremely
seriously and are willing to hit landlords hard in the pocket. Mr Tennyson is
facing a bill of almost ₤9,000 instead of the ₤400 it would've cost him for a
licence. Our message to those landlords that haven't signed up is that you are
committing a criminal offence and if you don't engage you will get a big bill in
Court."
Deputy District Judge Monroe found Tennyson guilty in his absence after he
failed to attend this, and an earlier hearing, despite the Court having written
to him about the matter.
He was fined ₤5,000 for operating an unlicensed property and ₤3,000 for failing
to comply with the notice served on him.
He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of ₤120 and the City Council's
legal costs of ₤820.23 within the next 14 days.
Current and prospective tenants can access a database
online
to see if their landlord has started the application process. Almost 8,000
landlords responsible for more than 44,000 properties are already engaged with
the Landlord Licensing scheme and it has the backing of campaign groups including:- Shelter and
Generation Rent. |
