Letting agencies fined £80,000 over unlicensed and unsafe property

Three property management companies and a landlord have been prosecuted and fined nearly £80,000 for letting an unlicensed House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) in Camden that was found to have multiple fire safety failures.

The unlicensed HMO property in Kilburn is owned by Turnpine Limited and was being let through Plaza Estates Agency Limited to Cadogan Assets Limited, a company of which larndord Mohammed Ali Abbas Rasool was the sole Director.

SENTENCING

All four were ordered to pay fines and costs totalling £78,630 at a sentencing held at Highbury Corner Magistrates Court last month.

Rasool was fined £9,930 while his company, Cadogan Assets Limited, was hit with a £44,190 bill. Plaza Estate Agency Limited was fined £14,690 and Turnpine Limited fined £9,190.

The defendants entered not guilty pleases to all charges but the Court found all four parties guilty of offences under the Housing Act 2004 for letting an unlicensed HMO and the failure to comply with regulations 3 and 4 of the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006.

Camden Council (main picture) obtained a warrant to inspect the property in July 2021 when it was found to be an unlicensed HMO that was being let to five tenants. The inspection found multiple serious fire safety hazards that included partitioned walls in the kitchen and lounge used to create two additional bedrooms that did not have adequate fire escape routes, fire detection or fire-resistant doors.

BANNING

This is not the first time that Camden Council has acted against Rasool. In January 2022 the Council secured a landlord banning order against him and in May 2022 he was ordered to pay £95,000 in fines and costs for letting an unlicensed HMO and safety offences.

Councillor Meric Apak, Cabinet Member for Better Homes, says: “Around a third of Camden residents rent from private landlords and they deserve to live in properly regulated, safe homes and to be treated fairly.

“ We will not hesitate to take robust action against landlords when they repeatedly fail to meet their obligations. Our record of securing seven banning orders against rogue landlords is more than any other Council in England.”