HMO
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Latest property news
Criminal gang fined £434,000 after duping letting agents
Eight named men and firms have been fined £434,000 collectively for offences after they duped letting agents out of homes that they then turned into illegal HMOs.
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Latest property news
Rogue Landlord fined £115,000 for squalid illegal conversion
Shashibhushan Vyas was fined over £115,500 at Isleworth Crown Court for illegally converting a side extension into a separate unit at his property.
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Latest property news
Cash-starved councils targeting tenants in HMO tax raid, warns big landlord
A government consultation into the way Homes in Multiple Occupation are valued for council tax in England has been slammed by landlords.
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Latest property news
Landlords and agents warned over unlicensed student properties
Students could be in line for a rent rebate after £85,000 student accommodation ruling against management company.
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Latest property news
Letting agency working for rogue landlord under the spotlight
A Leamington Spa letting agent has been thrown under the spotlight after one of its rogue landlords was fined £31,000 by Warwick District Council. Grzegorz Surminski had rented a 6-bedroom property in St Brides Close, Sydenham, Leamington Spa through Golden Key Letting Agents and was subletting the property to eight sub-tenants when the property was inspected by Warwick District Council Housing Officers in February 2022. DISREPAIR The property was reported to the Council for disrepair by one of the sub-tenants. Surminski had not applied for a House of Multiple Occupation (HMO) licence for letting the property to so many tenants and had not provided safe or adequate measures for his tenants. As well as the lack of fire safety provisions, there were numerous repair issues also found including unsafe electrics, lack of a working shower and broken floor tiles in the bathroom. A tenant was provided with a mouldy mattress to sleep on, and there were large accumulations of rubbish in the rear garden as well as insufficient wheelie bins for the size of the household. This landlord has flouted the laws which are there to protect the most vulnerable members of society.” Surminski was found guilty last month by…
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Agencies & People
Mystery surrounds Birmingham ‘virtual lettings agency’ after tenant complaint
Tenant forced to shower with bucket in garden after agency allows power to be cut off over £17,000 energy bills dispute in West Midlands HMO.
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Features
HMO bear traps
Creeping bureaucracy is creating a massive financial risk for landlords and agents who are managing HMOs, says Nigel Lewis.
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Latest property news
Leading council urges local tenants to report misbehaving letting agents
Exeter has set a bad precedent by urging tenants to report agents for a wide range of issues including discrimination, harassment and evictions.
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Latest property news
HMO managers face unlimited fines if they break new fire safety rules
Home Office says landlords or responsible persons will fall under the remit of the new Fire Safety Order, which follows the Grenfell tragedy.
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Features
When is an HMO not an HMO?
...when it hasn’t got a licence. The Property Ombudsman, Katrine Sporle, adjudicates on a case of inaccurate property description.
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