By Scunthorpe landlord fined over ‘dangerous’ properties
A Scunthorpe landlord has been fined over £3,000 after North Lincolnshire Council deemed that he was renting out ‘dangerous’ properties to tenants.
Amarjit Singh was fined a total of £3,607 after he failed to provide the council with documents for three of his dangerous properties under the Housing Act 2004, reported suggested.
He was given three notices between November 2020 and January 2021 to provide the documentation, but he refused.
The news comes after the council announced the upcoming arrival of a new scheme which would help tenants identity ‘quality’ landlords and hopefully eradicate the bad ones.
The Decent and Safe Homes (DASH) accreditation scheme for landlords is expected to come into effect in April this year.
The council has already begun to investigate several houses on Diana Street and Mary Street as they needed ‘urgent and immediate enforcement action’.
A spokesperson for North Lincolnshire Council reported: “In one case, they issued an order immediately removing the occupiers, who were supported to find alternative accommodation.”
One dangerous property reportedly had “exposed cables in a shower room, broken windows, unsecure doors, lack of fire precautions, an accumulation of waste in a back yard and sockets hanging off walls”, the council added.
This resulted in the tenants being left in a property that could have caused them serious harm.
The Scunthorpe landlord failed to appear at Grimsby Magistrates Court and was subsequently found guilty in his absence.
He was found guilty of failing to comply with a Section 235 Notice (of the Housing Act 2004) on three separate occasions.
Singh was fined £660 per offence with £1,437 of additional costs and an extra £190 victim surcharge, totalling £3,607 altogether.
Cllr John Davison, cabinet member for safer and stronger communities – urban, said: “The majority of landlords in North Lincolnshire work with us to provide their tenants with good quality, safe accommodation.
“When they fail to do this, we will not hesitate to take action.
“If, like Mr Singh, they fail to provide tenants with safe and secure accommodation that meets the legal standards, we will come down on them with the full force of the law.”
(Images: North Lincolnshire Council)
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