Two Kent landlords have been fined £20,000 for leaving a flat so severely riddled with damp it posed a risk to tenants’ health.
Property owners Rattan Singh and Balbir Kaur of Henry Street, Chatham,
left tenants living in damp conditions and without heating for more than
two years.
Another of their flats in the same road, Dale Street, Chatham, was also
without heating. Both properties were also lacking vital fire safety
alarms.
Medway Council’s private sector housing team first raised informal
concerns with the owners in December 2011, and requested improvements be
made swiftly.
Despite follow up visits from the council’s “Rogue Landlord Unit”,
Singh and Kaur failed to make the necessary improvements and were
consequently issued with a formal legal notice in December 2013.
They made no attempt to carry out the work and appeared at Maidstone
Magistrates’ Court on 6 November where they pleaded guilty to 19
offences including failing to comply with notices under the Housing Act
2004.
They were fined £20,000 and must pay £600 costs as well as a £150 victim surcharge.
The prosecution by the council’s private sector housing team was
undertaken following a successful bid for government funding to
specifically tackle rogue landlords in Medway. This was the first case
for the authority’s Rogue Landlord Unit which is investigating a number
of other cases.
Medway Council’s director for regeneration, community and culture Robin
Cooper said: “Landlords must remember that the properties they are
renting out must be safe and free of risks to the health of their
tenants. The council will not accept tenants being placed in danger
through the deliberate actions of their landlords or agents.
“We will always try to work with co-operative landlords and support
them in running their businesses. This case shows that those who don’t
comply will be followed up and if necessary, prosecuted.”
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