Unlicensed landlord slapped with hefty fine

A private landlord in North East Lincolnshire has been fined over £1,300 after he was found to be renting a house of multiple occupancy (HMO) without a licence.

Yordan Kaloyanov, 37, of Millhouse Rose in Immingham was given a court bill of £1,380 after a successful prosecution by North East Lincolnshire Council.

Housing enforcement officers from the council’s regeneration partner ENGIE, inspected a property on Pelham Road, Immingham, owned by Mr Kaloyanov in August 2017 supported by Humberside Police.

Photo: North East Lincolnshire Council

Photo: North East Lincolnshire Council

The three storey, five bedroom house was being rented by several people and failed to meet some of the basic safety standards of an HMO.

The property was issued with an Emergency Prohibition under the Housing Act in September 2017, which requires the owner to carry out emergency remedial works.

Mr Kaloyanov prosecuted and found guilty of six offences under the housing act and given fines of £100 per offence.

Additional costs of £750 and a victim surcharge of £30 totalled up to the overall court bill of £1380.

The offences

All the offences are from August 31 2017, including the fact that Mr Kaloyanov did not ensure the property had a licence to be occupied as an HMO.

Breaches of tenants’ standards for an HMO include:

• No interlinked fire alarms
• No evidence that fire alarms worked or had been tested recently
• No fire doors, intumescent strips or self-closuring arms on the kitchen or bedroom doors
• There was no emergency lighting
• Exit doors did not have the required thumb-turn locks
• There were no emergency contact details for the manager or owner of the property

Photo: North East Lincolnshire Council

Landlords must be right side of law

Portfolio holder for housing councillor Peter Wheatley said: “A large number of local people rely on rented accommodation and landlords are expected to uphold high standards.

“Unlicensed and poorly maintained houses are not acceptable. Not only are they exploitative in nature, they could also put people’s lives at risk.

“The council wants to work with landlords to ensure that they are on the right side of the law. If landlords are unsure of what they should be providing for their tenants, they can contact our housing team via our website for more information.”