Landlord and letting agency fined over student property breaches

A BIRMINGHAM landlord and a letting agency have been fined for breaching property management regulations.

Kuldip Singh, age 40, of The Lindens, Harborne, pleaded guilty at Birmingham magistrates court to multiple breaches of management regulations at the three-storey student accommodation in Selly Oak.

Many of the breaches were fire hazards.

He has been fined £500 with £1,185 costs and a victim surcharge of £50.

Ashley Borne Sales and Lettings Ltd, of Bristol Road, Selly Oak, pleaded guilty at the same hearing to failing to obtain an HMO (House of Multiple Occupation) licence for the six-bedroomed property. It was fined £2,500 with £1,185 costs and a victim surcharge of £170.

Cllr Peter Griffiths, Birmingham’s cabinet member for Housing and Homes, said the council took its regulation responsibilities seriously which was why it had brought the case forward.

“Ashley Borne Sales and Lettings is based in the heart of Selly Oak where most of the properties are multiple occupancy houses for students.  Both the lettings agents and the landlord should have known about HMO licensing, HMO regulations and their duty to protect their tenants,” he said.

“This six-bedroomed property was rented to students from outside Birmingham and their parents believed that they were living in decent accommodation.  We have a responsibility to these young people and their families and I am glad that we have been able to bring both the landlord and the letting agents to justice through our specialist work on rogue landlords.”

The full list of management regulation breaches were:
•    Failure to display the name, address and contact telephone number of the manager in a prominent position within the HMO
•    The bedroom doors and front entrance and rear exit doors were key operated instead of being operated by thumb-turn locks
•    There was no fire blanket in the kitchen
•    The risk room doors on the escape route all lacked suitable self-closers
•    There was no fire protection to the underside of the staircase, the absence of which would allow the spread of fire throughout the property
•    There was no door separating the staircase from the living room/kitchen area, the absence of which would allow the spread of fire and smoke throughout the whole property
•    There was no cover to the drain in the rear yard
•    The extractor fan in the shared kitchen was not working
•    The kitchen heat detector was covered
•    There was no handrail provision to a section of the staircase
•    The gas and electric meters in the ground floor front bedroom were not boxed in
•    The electrical wiring in the ground floor front bedroom did not comply with the current electrical standards
•    There was a gap between the door frame and wall to the first floor rear bedroom
•    There was defective plaster work to the ceiling to the ground floor front bay window
•    The hand basin in the en-suite bathroom in the second floor rear bedroom was leaking
•    The bathroom door to the en-suite bathroom in the second floor rear bedroom door did not close properly