Nottingham landlord sentenced over dangerous property
A Nottingham landlord, who failed to improve his rental property, leaving his tenants in dangerous conditions has been fined.
34-year-old Haroon Karim, from Bramcote in Nottingham, pleaded guilty to two offences under the Housing Act 2004, section 72(3) and (6) failing to comply with Housing of Multiple Occupancy (HMO) licence conditions and section 30(1) and (3) failing to comply with an Improvement Notice.
Nottingham City Council’s Safer Housing inspectors visited the property in the Hyson Green and Arboretum ward and a number of category 1 and 2 hazards were found. This included dangerous stairs, structural collapse, excessive cold, damp, mould, fire hazards, issues with food safety and sanitation and drainage
Mr Karim was then served an Improvement Notice, which he failed to comply with, exposing the tenants of this property to these hazards for an unacceptable level of time.
In addition, there was a breach of the HMO licence conditions in that the landlord had failed to provide adequate amenities within the kitchen that were suitable for the number of the tenants living in the property. This included failing to provide a microwave oven or an additional cooker; failing to provide an adequate number of electrical sockets and failing to provide sufficient amenities for food preparation and washing up by not providing an additional sink or dishwasher.
During sentencing on the 11 January 2021, Nottingham Magistrates Court ordered Mr Karim to pay a fine and legal costs totalling £1001.42
Cllr Linda Woodings, Portfolio Holder for Planning, Housing and Heritage, said: The work of Nottingham City Council’s Safer Housing team is vital to improving the conditions of homes in the private rented sector, so when we inspect a property and find serious defaults – we expect them to be fixed so tenants can live in a safe home.
“We will only take legal action as a last resort, if a landlord doesn’t not work with us to improve their property. Most landlords are good landlords, but there are some, like Mr Karim, who give others a bad name. I would urge tenants to contact us if they have issues with their home, that aren’t being sorted.”
The Safer Housing team would urge any tenants who wish to report problems with their private rented property to do this online here. They can also contact the call centre on 0115 915 2020 option 3.
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