Second successful prosecution of rogue landlord
A rogue landlord has been landed with a hefty legal bill for the second time in two years, following a successful prosecution by Nottingham City Council’s Safer Housing Team.
Mr Zain Khan of Mayo Road, Nottingham, pleaded guilty at Nottingham Magistrates Court on September 28 to several offences relating a property on Mansfield Road and was fined £27,603.91. The property, which consists of three separate buildings which are all houses in multiple occupation, is a few doors away from properties where he pleaded guilty to 20 offences in 2014 and was fined over £25,000.
The breaches of the Housing Act and Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation Regulations, which put tenants at risk of serious harm, included:
• Fire detection equipment being inoperative
• Lack of fire doors and escape routes obstructed
• A leak on a second floor boiler causing water to cascade down a first floor wall over electrical equipment
• No central heating to the second floors
• Exposed live electrical conductors present due to lack of maintenance of the electrical installation.
Khan managed the properties on behalf of his father who was the leaseholder and had full control of the properties when officers, accompanied by Community Protection’s Neighbourhood Policing Team, raided the property in September last year under a Magistrate’s Warrant. Fourteen occupants were found to be living at the property.
The Safer Housing team was first made aware of the property when a tenant complained that there was no heating due to a boiler breakdown. Initial enquiries revealed that the property was not licenced and due to the size of the property and previous involvement with Mr Khan, a decision was made to apply for a warrant to enter to ascertain the standard of the property and the number of occupants living there by going in unannounced.
Portfolio holder for community services, councillor Nicola Heaton, said: “Rogue landlords like Mr Khan who offer poor, unsafe accommodation can fully expect to be prosecuted by us.
“Once again, this landlord was willing to put the health, safety and welfare of his tenants at risk through hazards and lack of proper management of properties, and quite rightly now has a hefty legal bill to pay.”
