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Landlord prosecuted because buy to let was unclean and unsafe

A landlord who failed to ensure his property was clean and safe for tenants to live in has been prosecuted by a council. 

An environmental health officer from Oldham council first visited a private rented property in the town in September last year after they received information about a number of faults, including dangerous electrics and a leaking toilet.

An Improvement Notice was served on the property’s owner, Christopher Mark Houghton,, requiring him to carry out repairs. 

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A follow up visit by officers in December found the work had not been carried out.

The landlord also failed to communicate with the council, so legal proceedings for failing to comply with an Improvement Notice under the Housing Act 2004 were started.

 

Now Tameside Magistrates’ Court has fined Houghton £2,640, plus costs of £487 and a victim surcharge of £190. He was found guilty in his absence.

Councillor Hannah Roberts, responsible for housing, says: “Everyone has the right to live in a safe and clean home. The council will take action against private landlords and owners who potentially put lives at risk by renting out substandard properties.”

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    Why did Tenants take it if it was unclean. Surely its the Tenants duty to keep the place clean if any duty required of them I assume they were reared. The LL can’t just go in cleaning or he’ll be accused of harassment.

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    In fairness he was given the chance to rectify the faults, as for cleanness we've all seen the sh*t some people live in, tenants responsibility to clean .

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    And this is news because?
    If a landlord lets a property thats dangerous then i totally think he deserves prosecuting. If its serious i think he should be prosecuted immediately and forced to carry out repairs if he fails to do them promptly.

    I dint see the problem. Yes i agree sometimes councils are over zealous but i rent 22 properties and have done so for over 20 years and only had trouble from council ones. When i agreed to carry out the work they came back to check and found id done it and never heard from them again.

    And reference to clean is so vague. He didnt get prosecuted for it not being clean…. There is no evidence in the article to suggest the council did anything wrong. They took action to make an unsafe house safe so whats the problem.

    I see so many of these scare stories and its not true.

    Im sure there ate examples of over zealous application of legislation but i cant say ive ever had problems with my council

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    Ok Phillip, you have 22 how many of those have HMO Licensed not being personal and did you have to license them in 2006, again 2011, again 2016 and now due again 2021 paying for all the compliance with fee increasing from £580 + to £1400+ Per Application since it began. I fail to see how the Council is not a problem while doing everything in their power to destroy us, Including Penalties, Fines, Court cases, Criminal records, prosecuting LL’s for what a Tenant has done its a new justice system, sometimes take action against the innocent party easy money.

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    Well said Michael

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