A council has prosecuted a rogue landlord for failing to provide adequate heating and hot water at one of his rental properties.

Philip Spence, of Mickleover, failed to act when the boiler broke down, leaving tenants with inadequate heating or and hot water during November and December 2022 including one week when a severe cold weather alert was issued by the Met Office warning of sub-zero temperatures in the East Midlands.

The extreme cold in the house caused ice to form on the inside of the bedroom windows and the lack of hot water meant the tenants could not wash or bathe properly.

The tenants contacted Derby council to say that their boiler had broken and they had lost heating and hot water. When council officers inspected the property they found the boiler was leaking water and some of the radiators had rust-coloured sludge seeping from them.

For several weeks Spence ignored his tenants’ pleas to fix the boiler, and on December 2 2022 a notice was served giving him seven days to repair or replace the heating system. However, he failed to do so, leaving the council to carry out the works.

Now – in a hearing at Derby Magistrates Court – Spence has been found guilty of charges relating to the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and ordered to pay £2,908.17 in costs, £3,719.58 to reimburse the council for the cost of a new boiler and associated works, and £3,000 in compensation to the tenants.

Councillor Baggy Shanker, leader of Derby council, says: “Everyone deserves a safe, comfortable accommodation and landlords have a duty of care to their tenants to provide this. While the vast majority of private landlords take this obligation seriously, there are a small minority who don’t.”