Cardiff Council has successfully prosecuted a private landlord on three occasions over a period of two years, for breaches of the Housing Act 2004 and failures to comply with the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Wales) Regulations 2006.
Gary Samuel is the owner and landlord of a property in Corporation Road, Grangetown, which comprises ground floor commercial premises and three bedsits, with shared kitchen and bathroom facilities.
Following an inspection by Cardiff Council officers in 2012, an improvement notice under Part 2 of the Housing Act 2004 was served on Samuel requiring works of improvement and repair to be carried out. Failure to comply with this notice and failures to comply with the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Wales) Regulations 2006, led to the council taking legal action and Mr Samuel being convicted in October 2012 at Cardiff Magistrates Court and fined £1,200.
In spite of correspondence advising Samuel of the requirement to comply with the legislation, his failure to do so led the council to prosecute him again in June 2014. At this further hearing, the Magistrates Court fined him £3,000 and he was ordered to pay costs of £200.
Samuel was served with a notice in April 2014 under Section 235, Housing Act, requiring him to submit documentation to the Council to evidence that systems were in place to protect the health, safety and welfare of his tenants.
The documents requested were:
• The current and immediately previous gas certificates for this property
• A current electrical installation condition report for the property
• A current energy performance certificate for the property.
• The current fire alarm commissioning or test and inspection certificate for the property.
• All current tenancy agreements.
• The last 3 years certified accounts for the property.
The council initiated legal action after Samuel failed to comply with the notice and a hearing was held at Cardiff Magistrates Court on 28 August. Samuel failed to attend the hearing and in his absence was convicted and fined a further £200 for the offences. In addition, he was ordered to pay £200 towards the council’s costs as well as a £20 victim surcharge.
Councillor Bob Derbyshire, cabinet member with responsibility for regulatory services said: “This was a particularly serious case where a rogue private landlord thought it acceptable to ignore the legislation that is in place to protect tenants. The council will continue to pursue this minority of landlords in the private sector in order to ensure that people are housed in conditions which do not pose a risk to their health or safety.”
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Comments
Fortunately with the new powers now available to them and compulsory Landlord registration and accreditation coming in by Spring 2015 Landlords like this who will not have fit and proper person status will be driven out of the market - or to jail if they stay in it.
What is really needed of course is a Proceeds of Unlawful Magament Act along the lines of the Proceeds of Crime Act so that such properties can be taken off such Landlords and then sold.