Council leader says she’ll do ‘anything’ to deter bad landlords
Comments from Haringey housing chief follow £10,000 fine for landlord duo after they failed to license their large HMO.
Haringey Council in London has prosecuted a couple who have been ordered to pay £10,000 after failing to license an HMO property.
Although this a substantial figure, it is far short of the £30,000 that can be levied by councils for non-compliance.
The three-storey property was occupied by nine tenants from seven different households which, under local and national licencing law, would have required to be licenced as an HMO.
Enforcement notice
Properties in the borough occupied by five or more people who are not all related and use it as their main home, must have an HMO licence.
Enforcement notices for non-compliance under the Housing Act 2004 were also given to the couple, who are portfolio landlords but who the council has decided not to name because the fine has been paid in full and the property is now licensed and fully compliant with legal standards.
This case underlines the crucial need for landlords to license their HMOs.”
Sarah Williams (main image), Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning, says: “This case underlines the crucial need for landlords to license their HMOs.
“Licensing is essential to ensure that properties comply with the necessary standards and to protect tenants.
“The safety and well-being of our residents is a top priority, and we are committed to taking all necessary measures to protect them.”
The council says it remains committed to enforcing HMO regulations, and ensuring that all rental properties in Haringey meet required standards.
The London borough contains some 44,000 rented properties which include some 300 smaller HMOs and a larger number of properties required to be licenced under ‘mandatory licencing’ which costs £1,300.
As everyone knows, the principal motivation of councils running licensing schemes is to raise money and to pretend to be “doing something”. They punish the good landlords at every opportunity, they tell tenants who’ve been given notice to stay put until evicted, they declare “housing emergencies” yet do nothing to encourage landlords to increase housing supply, and all because they basically regard private landlords as one of their principal enemies.
The problem is this sort of prosecution is too rare. The “good” landlords pay a lot to maintain properties and keep them up to required standard. Not enough resources are put into chasing the landlords who don’t comply.