In yet another warning for residential landlords to ensure they literally have their house in order, a landlord in the North West has been fined £2,000.
Brendan Kiely, a landlord in Burnley, Lancashire, was prosecuted under the Housing Act for failing to have the correct certification required by the Local Authority. Magistrates heard that despite being presented with requests to buy the relevant licenses three times, for a property he owned in Cog Lane, he had not complied. As well as incurring the fine he was also charged £150 for court costs.
The town council in Burnley have set up a compulsory, selective licensing scheme in the Trinity area of the town which demands that landlords owning more than one property in that vicinity must purchase registration.
The scheme is designed, like many similar schemes in the North West, to ensure that properties in the private rental sector achieve a stated prescribed level of acceptance, and provide tenants with good accommodation. The Trinity area had in the past had high levels of anti-social behaviour and low levels of acceptable accommodation.
Landlords should be more and more aware of these schemes as they are becoming common place. Town councils in inner cities are becoming tuned in to the housing needs of its citizens and realise that properties in deprived areas can be brought up to standard and fulfil the need of tenants in the area. Landlords should always consider purchasing landlord insurance when adding to their portfolio irrespective of the fact that it is not a legal requisite.