A former Countrywide estate agent who now works for a family firm operating one of the UK’s largest private rental property portfolios has told a Tribunal that identifying which properties need licensing is a ‘struggle’.

Amar Hothi, who before joining the Lexadon Property Group was head of Countrywide’s property management division has been told by a Tribunal that his firm, which is run by the Knight family, must pay three of its tenants a combined £15,290 in repaid rent, or 60% of their original claim.

Lexadon operates 750 rental properties across the UK but the RRO concerned an HMO property on Clapham Road in London.

The three tenants moved into the home during November 2021 – one month before Lambeth Council introduced an additional licencing scheme covering the area. The tribunal heard that although Lambeth advertised the scheme and sent letters out, it did not send one in respect of this flat.

Mitigation

In mitigation, Lexadon Ltd told the First Tier Property Tribunal that it struggled to identify which properties needed a licence and faced “significant difficulties” training staff to apply for property licences.

Hothi, who is the firm’s operations director, said the firm only learnt that it needed a licence in November 2023 and was granted one in April 2024.

The three tenants moved out in February 2024 and the flat is now let to two individuals and is therefore no longer an HMO. The tribunal heard that the tenant trio had complained about  broken windows and mould in the bathroom and that carbon monoxide and fire alarms had been allowed to expire.

Hothi said it was a family-run company which valued its staff and that this was a genuine mistake. All its HMOs are now licensed.

But the judge ruled: “This is a professional landlord which owns a number of properties. It should have had proper arrangements in place to ensure that any property that required a licence, was licenced. A licence was not required at the commencement of the tenancy; however, the tenancy was renewed. We consider the offence to be serious, but not the most serious.”

This is not the first time that Lexadon has had to pay an RRO. Last year it had to repay £10,108 in respect of an unlicensed HMO.

Read more about RROs.
Read the tribunal hearing report in full.