Big city council awards £8m contracts to ‘concerning’ private landlord
Phoenix Properties boss William Lennie passes council 'diligence test' despite previously pleading guilty to running unregistered lets and unlicensed HMOs.
Edinburgh Council has awarded homeless housing contracts worth almost £8 million to a private landlord who has a history of running unregistered lets and unlicensed HMOs.
William Lennie, 72, is the director and primary shareholder of Phoenix Properties Edinburgh Ltd, which has secured two contracts worth some £7,996,785 for the provision of longer-term accommodation for homeless singles, couples and families.
The move has prompted criticism from councillors who say the city has ‘serious questions to answer’ about its landlord due diligence processes.
Guilty
According to STV News, court services confirmed that Lennie pleaded guilty to and was fined for seven counts of unregistered letting and running unlicensed HMOs in 2010, alongside co-defendant Alexanderina Richardson.
When he was challenged about the case, Lennie said: “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was never charged with that.
He did, however, admit to earlier offences, telling the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I was done in 1985 for ghost tenants. DHS fraud. I went to court in 1989, 1990. Ten years later, I went back to court again. This time it’s for mortgage fraud.”
It’s extremely concerning that this is just coming to light.”
“It’s extremely concerning that this is just coming to light,” SNP councillor Stuart Dobbin.
“There are clearly serious questions to be answered about the due diligence being undertaken on multimillion-pound contracts dished out by the council.”
Phoenix Properties, which operates a serviced apartment complex in Lochend (main picture) and owns several city flats, declined to comment after being approached by STV News.
An Edinburgh Council spokesperson said: “We work with a range of landlords and providers across the city to help us tackle the current housing emergency. We complete full due diligence checks on each provider.”
The row comes after Edinburgh Council was criticised for its double standards for housing homeless people in unlicensed HMOs whilst enforcing strict licensing rules on private landlords.
