Fines of almost £5000 have been handed to a landlord after he pleaded guilty to fire safety breaches and failure to apply for a HMO license. 

Alongisde the seven unrelated tenants living at the property, council inspectors found that there were no fire alarms or fire protected exits, and shared areas were ‘badly maintained’. 

Ronak Patel was fined £2,694 and ordered to pay £1,994 in costs and a victim surcharge of £170. 

Hannah Doody, Merton Council’s director of community and housing, said, “This is another great result and I hope our success in securing prosecutions, leading to hefty fines will serve as a warning to any rogue landlords who breach the regulations for HMOs in Merton.

“We will not tolerate rogue landlords who seek to profiteer from cramming as many tenants as possible into properties with inadequate or dangerous conditions."

Original Source
Landlord Today