An unlicensed landlord whose tenants suffered a freezing winter with no
heating or hot water has been ordered to pay more than £30,000
following a council prosecution.
Royston Cooper failed to license a house in Talgarth Road, Hammersmith,
which he rented to five architectural students despite it having a
broken boiler and a shared toilet that leaked waste.
When Cooper ignored their pleas to fix the boiler, the students
complained to H&F Council’s private housing and health service,
which investigated and took action at the start of this year.
Officers recognised the tenants were at risk of immediate harm and
arranged for a new boiler to be installed and the toilet to be fixed
while taking action against the landlord, who had broken the law by
failing to license the property as a house in multiple occupation (HMO).
At Hammersmith Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 7 October, the council’s
lawyer argued that a hefty fine was needed to reflect the physical and
mental hardship endured by the five tenants, who were left without
heating or hot water for four weeks.
Cooper, 47, of Billingshurst in West Sussex, did not appear and was
found guilty of four offences under the Housing Act. He was fined
£15,000 for failing to license the house as an HMO, £5,000 for failing
to maintain the boiler, a further £5,000 for not fixing a leaking soil
pipe in the toilet, and another £3,000 for failing to respond to an
investigator’s request for information. He was also ordered to pay costs
of £2,160 and a victim surcharge of £120. The tenants, who moved out in
February, can now apply to have some of their rent returned.
Cllr Lisa Homan, H&F Council’s cabinet member for housing, said:
“This is a fantastic result – both for the tenants, who were forced to
endure a miserable winter without heating or hot water, and for our
private housing and health team, who did not hesitate in taking action
when it was needed. We will continue to crack down hard on landlords who
think they can get away with allowing their tenants to suffer in
sub-standard conditions.”
Landlords must hold a licence for each HMO that they own if it is
rented out to five or more people, is at least three storeys high and
has a shared toilet, bathroom or kitchen.
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