A rogue landlord has been fined in excess of £20,000 after renting a single house out to three separate families.
Veli Bunul was prosecuted at Basildon Magistrates Court for letting an unlicensed and poorly-maintained house in Waltham Abbey classed as a house in multiple occupation (HMO).
During a visit to Bunul’s property in Tillingham Court, officers from Epping Forest Council found 11 people, including young children, were living in the three-storey property in crowded conditions, with all sharing a single kitchen and two bathrooms.
A number of safety violations were found in the rental property, including inadequate fire precautions or a safe means of escape in the event of an emergency.
The court heard that Bunul, of Chase Side, Canary Wharf, had previously ignored warnings from the council about his responsibilities to make the property safe.
Banul pleaded his innocence, insisting that he did not know the property was being occupied by several families, as someone else collected rent on his behalf. But this claim was rejected by the court.
The magistrates fined him £21,575 for failing to comply with property licensing rules.
Epping Forest Council housing portfolio holder, Cllr Syd Stavrou said: “We will not tolerate landlords who rent properties which fail to meet standards.
“The council has a commitment to ensure that private landlords in the Epping Forest district do not take financial advantage of vulnerable tenants and put their lives at risk.
“We will not hesitate to prosecute landlords who show a disregard for the law and their responsibilities towards occupants.”
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so who was on the rental agreement? how can a landlord ever know who is actually in his property--we have to give 48 hours notice
i think he should appeal
You should sit on what you are talking out of TS. Must have been going on for some time as the rent collector would have knowledge who was paying so landlord must have known. Ignorance is no excuse as you should well know.
do you know that as a fact--presumably rent was collected at same time each week/month so any xs occupants could go for a walk
as i said its impossible for ll to know who is in his property--and insults are not appropriate
LL fined £20k no surprise just soft money for Council, they are all at it. They have no input whatsoever and each time clapping themselves on the the back about how good they are and they wont tolerate it. The fines are so high which means there is no cap.
Hounslow Council now having what they call a consultation about licensing as if it were true. I seen it all before years back in west London, a guy came from York and told us what was coming at three different venues, that's not a consultation, he got paid £100k from Council for that and when a member of the Public asked specific questions about parts of the Borough it was clear he didn't know. Before Licensing there was no overcrowding or sub-letting which is a by-product of the Schemes. Landlord restricted to 4 /5 persons by license, then Tenants have all this spare capacity and fill it up knowing the law doesn't apply to them.
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