Fire safety issues found

29 March 2017

Three landlords from High Wycombe have been ordered to pay £18,000 after they were found to be renting out an unsafe property in the area.

Noshiba Rehman, Saiqa Bi and Ansar Rehman were fined after their rental property was found to have little fire protection.

Officers from Wycombe District Council who visited last year deemed the property to pose ‘significant’ fire risks to tenants.

Upon inspection, the officers also found that the tenants were at risk of electrocution in the property, which had seen no inspection of electrical installation for at least five years.

The house had just one battery operated smoke detector and no light in the stairwell.

The defendants pleaded guilty to all charges, although failed to attend court for the hearing.

The three were collectively ordered to pay £18,000. This was comprised of a fine of £5,500 for Noshiba Rehman with a victim surcharge of £50 and legal costs of £850, whilst the other two landlords were each ordered to pay fines of £5,000 alongside a victim surcharge of £50 and legal costs of £750 each.

Deputy cabinet member for housing at Wycombe District Council, Councillor Tony Lee, said: “We are determined to clamp down hard on rogue landlords like this. They are callously and consciously exploiting vulnerable people and, as in this case, receiving tax payers’ money through housing benefit paying for rent.”

Original source

Residential Landlord