Record £20,000 fine for unlicensed landlord with 62 properties
Local man Charles Baker is to pay fine and costs after failing to gain relevant licences from Rent Smart Wales.
A Welsh landlord with 62 apartments within 16 rented properties has been fined a record £20,000 for failing to obtain a licence from Rent Smart Wales to operate them.
Charles Baker of Cyncoed Road, Cyncoed, Cardiff was found guilty at the city’s Magistrates Court (pictured, above) and will now have to pay the fine plus costs of £741.
Baker, who didn’t attend the hearing, was found guilty of both failing to obtain a licence to carry out lettings and management activities for his properties, which are in the Roath area of the city.
“Rent Smart Wales was introduced to drive up standards in the private rented sector and to help professionalise the role of a landlord for the benefit of themselves and their tenants.,” says Councillor Lynda Thorne (left), Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities at Cardiff Council, the single licensing authority for Rent Smart Wales
“It’s quite shocking that a landlord with so many properties in the city has sought to evade compliance.
“However, it really doesn’t matter if you are a landlord with 60 properties or just the one because all self-managing landlords must be licensed with Rent Smart Wales to operate legally.
“We are prosecuting landlords for non-compliance across Wales and will continue to do so to root out the minority who are foolish enough to believe the law doesn’t apply to them.”
Landlords who let and manage their own properties are required under the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 to be registered and licensed with Rent Smart Wales.
