A landlord has been fined £5,000 for failing to properly licence their house-share property and comply with licensing conditions.

Kensington and Chelsea council in London issued a civil penalty under the Housing Act 2004 after an investigation uncovered no licence at all in an HMO in the Portobello Road area of the borough.

The landlord has since applied for a licence and paid the civil penalty.

An additional licensing scheme has been in place across the borough since June 2023 for HMOs to make homes safer for private tenants in shared houses and flats and to make the market fairer for compliant landlords.

The fine is the first to be paid since the Council began to crackdown on unlicensed properties this summer. A further three penalties have been issued and further cases for non-compliance are under investigation.

A council spokesperson says:“Let these penalties be a lesson to landlords that you will not get away with dodging the rules or providing unsafe accommodation. Private rentals are crucial for housing supply but accommodation needs to be decent and safe.

“The new licensing scheme is helping us identify landlords and managing agents who are breaking the law so we can protect tenants and make the market fairer for good landlords.”

Since the new licensing scheme was introduced in June 2023, the council has issued 555 licences for HMOs. On application, properties are assessed for compliance with HMO standards. Licences issued include conditions concerning any improvements needed, such as fire safety measures. To date, 216 licensed properties have had improvement works completed as part of the scheme.

As part of the council’s work in checking compliance, in June 2024 it carried out targeted action in Earls Court, with officers visiting around 300 properties. 

They found 14 properties to be potentially unlicensed based on responses from occupants. Officers are investigating further and will issue civil penalties where they confirm that landlords have failed to licence their property. Further so-called “targeted action” is now taking place in another location, with more to come later this year, the council pledges.