Letting agent fined £18,000 for HMO licence breaches at crowded property

An Essex HMO operator who is also the owner of a High Street letting agent has been fined £17,293 for breaching housing licence conditions, including letting a family of five live in one small room.

An inspection in December 2021 at a property in Westcliff-on-Sea found it to be in breach of several HMO (house of multiple occupancy) licence conditions.

DISREPAIR

During the inspections, officers from Southend-on-Sea City Council‘s private sector housing team found the property with disrepair to windows and staircases, a lack of fire safety with tangled electricity wires (main picture) and waste underneath an outside staircase.

The bathroom (pictured), as well as a broken window, also had a see through glass door that offered no privacy. An inspecting officer also found evidence of overcrowding with a family – two adults and three children – living in just one room.

Such obvious offences breached the HMO licence and a prosecution began.

The licence was revoked immediately and a prohibition order prevents anyone staying at the house until it was made safe and the family relocated.

Ruhul Shamsuddin and his company Lordsons Estates were found guilty in absence of all 23 offences at Colchester Magistrates Court in May 2023.

On Friday 7 July both Mr Shamshuddin and the company were fined a total of £17,293 by Basildon Magistrates Court.

DISSOLVED

That company is now in the process of being dissolved although a company with the same name mysteriously still appears to be trading from Southend-on-Sea but with no mention of Shamshuddin. That company has been approached for comment.

Councillor David Garston, cabinet member for housing and planning, says: “Landlords who exploit the vulnerabilities of people in need and provide substandard and unsafe accommodation will be caught and will face consequences.

“I’m so pleased we were able to relocate this family living in overcrowded conditions and I am so pleased the courts recognised the seriousness of the charges and imposed such a fine as this sends the right message out to others who may want to flout the rules.”