Landlord ordered to pay more than £5k for safety breaches

A buy-to-let landlord in South Yorkshire has been fined £4,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,121 as well as a victim surcharge of £100 after being found guilty in his absence for failing to carry out crucial safety works on his properties - including work to rectify fire hazards.

Sheffield Magistrates heard that Hanif Mohammed Khan, who owns properties in the Eastwood selective licensing area, ignored improvement notices served on him by Rotherham Borough Council instructing him to carry out works, which included dealing with hazards relating to fire safety and damp.

In the in the case of one property on Selborne Street at Eastwood, S65, the kitchen was in a dire state and needed replacing, but this only done on the morning of the court hearing a year later.

The 54-year old landlord who lives on Broom Lane in Broom, S60, was convicted of three offences of breaching improvement notices and one breach of his selective licence for failing to provide a valid gas safety certificate.

Cllr Dominic Beck, Rotherham Borough Council’s cabinet member for housing, said: “Although the majority of private landlords are law abiding, we will continue to take action through the courts against the small minority who fail to act on their responsibilities and ensure that their tenants have a decent standard of housing.”