In a stark warning to all residential landlords to get their house in order, Birmingham magistrates have fined a local landlord over £20,000 for not having HMO licences for 6 of his properties.
Most landlords are aware that it is imperative to not only have landlord insurance, but to make sure that all legal requirements are adhered to. They should all be familiar with the different rules that apply to student lets in larger properties, which are; Any rented property of three storey’s or more which has 5 or more occupants who are not related and share certain amenities in the house require a specific House of Multiple Occupation (HMO) licence. The licence requirement was put in place in 2006 in a bid to ensure that such properties were managed correctly and provided the basic standards of safety for heating, light and fire precaution.
The landlord in question David Delaney Hall was found guilty of not applying for the licences despite several warnings by the Council that he was contravening the law.
John Lines, the Birmingham Council Cabinet Minister for housing, said “I’m determined to ensure all Birmingham tenants, including students who often have to share accommodation with a number of other individuals, live in safe housing and my officers gave the landlord every opportunity to apply for a license. The council has now licensed over 1400 properties and I recognize there are many good landlords in Birmingham but there is no room for landlords who fail to comply with the law and put their tenants’ lives at risk.”
The landlord was fined £3000 for each property that did not have the licenses plus prosecution costs of £2072.