Estate agent to pay £25,000 after HMO safety offence conviction
Council inspectors found an electric meter had been tampered with along with fire safety issues at a property in Northampton run by Lilthuanian Zivile Aksinaviciene.
A letting agent has been fined a total of £25,800 after serious safety breaches were discovered at an HMO property in Northampton.
West Northamptonshire Council executed a warrant to inspect the Lutterworth Road (main picture) house after concerns were raised over its safety.
During the inspection, the electric meter was found to have been tampered with, seriously endangering the safety of the four people living there. The council instructed an electrician to attend the property to carry out emergency work to make the property safe.
Along with the unsafe electrics, a number of fire safety breaches were identified, including poorly maintained fire doors and missing smoke alarms.
In December, the council fined letting agent Zivile Aksinaviciene of J&KO Property Ltd £25,000 for breaching licence conditions for an HMO. She had three months to appeal against the decision, which has now passed.
Licence given up
The letting agent was also fined £800 for not signing up to a property redress scheme.
She took back responsibility for the property and carried out further work to make it safe. The HMO licence has now been given up, and it has been converted to a single-family house.
From some of the images captured at this address, it is clear the licensee had little regard for the safety of their tenants.”
Councillor Adam Brown, the council’s cabinet member for housing, says: “From some of the images captured at this address, it is clear the licensee had little regard for the safety of their tenants.
“The Housing Team cannot visit every property, but this case demonstrates that we will take action when people contact us with their concerns.”
Picture: Google Street View
