Rent-to-rent company fined £25,000

A property company which crudely converted a three bedroom house into a seven bedroom property which it then let out, has been fined £25,000.

Four Seasons Property Ltd, based in Edgware Road, London, was found guilty of five breaches of the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation Regulations 2006 at Willesden Magistrates’ Court on 25 November, and was ordered to pay the maximum fine of £25,000, £2,466 in costs and a £120 victim surcharge.

However, whether the fine will be paid remains to be seen. According to the Gazette, Four Seasons Property Ltd was declared insolvent on 18 November. Company Check lists its only current director as Mr Mohamed Ali Abbas Rasool - appointed on 17 November. The previous director was Mr Abbus Rasul.

The prosecution was brought by the Environmental Health Team in Re, the joint venture between Capita and Barnet Council, after officers investigated a complaint about the property in Cleveland Gardens, Cricklewood, in April this year.

It is the first such case to be managed by the joint venture from start to finish. When officers from the Environmental Health Team and the London Fire Brigade visited the house, they found the property’s main bedrooms and living rooms had been subdivided with poorly constructed partition walls.

In the subdivided rooms the partitions were butted right up against the bay windows, with the plasterboard roughly cut out around the radiators meaning a single radiator ran between two rooms. Gaps between the poorly fitted walls posed a fire risk as there was no proper fire and smoke separation.

The modified layout of some of the rooms also meant they were just big enough to accommodate a double bed.

Doors within the property were also found not to be fire resistant, there were no smoke detectors fitted and at the time of inspection the home was rented out to eight tenants.

http://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/news_features/Rent-to-rent-company-fined-%C2%A325-000