A buy-to-let landlord in north London has been ordered to pay more than £13,000 after breaching fire safety regulations and failing to carry out necessary repairs at a property in Newington Green.

An environmental health officer inspected the flat on Petherton Road, N5, following complaints from a neighbour, and found four unrelated inhabitants sharing a kitchen and bathroom – making the property a house in multiple occupation (HMO).

The property also did not have a mains wired smoke alarm system, or a fire door to the kitchen, as required by HMO licencing. There was also a poorly repaired kitchen window.

The officer issued an Improvement Notice, instructing Simons to fix these problems and provide an Electrical Installation Condition Report.

But despite committing to carrying the works out, the landlord failed to get the jobs done.

Landlord David Simons was found guilty of failing to comply with an Improvement Notice and fined £12,400 at Highbury Corner Magistrates’. He was also ordered to pay costs of £600 along with a victim surcharge of £175.

Cllr Diarmaid Ward, Islington’s housing chief, commented: “Everyone has the right to a safe, genuinely affordable home and we will not tolerate dodgy operators taking advantage of people’s desperate need for a home. Where we find unacceptable conditions we will act to protect tenants.”