A Letting Agent faces a total of £41,200 in fines and costs after pleading guilty at Watford Magistrates Court to thirteen offences, relating to the safety of tenants in five rented properties in Aviation Avenue and Mosquito Way, Hatfield.
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Strats Estates and Letting Agents Ltd of Harpsfield Broadway, Hatfield admitted to 13 offences that were presented to the court on Monday 17 June by Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council, relating to five rented houses in Hatfield.
The charges included several issues concerning fire safety at the properties (all houses in multiple occupation) in Aviation Avenue and Mosquito Way. In some of the properties there was inadequate smoke detection, fire doors to several rooms and areas of the properties were also found to be defective, a handrail to the stairs was not securely fixed to the wall and some exit doors were a fire safety hazard as they could be kept locked.
Strats Letting Agents, which manages these properties on behalf of individual landlords, were found guilty of thirteen breaches of the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation- Regulations 2006 (“the Regulations”).
The Court imposed fines of £16,200 and ordered the Agents to pay costs to the council of £25,000. It is understood that the Agent would have incurred significant costs to defend this action.
Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council is responsible for licensing high risk Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) and dealing with complaints regarding the standard of properties. There are over 300 licensed Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) in the borough.
This is the first time the council has prosecuted an Agent, rather than a landlord and it is unusual to take an action involving this many properties.
Councillor Roger Trigg, Executive Member for Housing and Community said: “We are delighted with this outcome, which is a great result. These offences related to fire safety and if not dealt with, could have led to serious injury and even death.
“Our aim is to protect the safety of tenants in the borough and the council wants to work with private landlords and agents as much as possible. We regard prosecution as a last resort, but we would like to send out a clear message to landlords and agents who do not respond to the advice, information and support that we provide, that we will take enforcement action against those who do not comply with the law.
“We run a Private Landlords’ Forum in partnership with the National Landlords Association three times per year, which aims to provide landlords with a networking opportunity. This also gives key information about local issues, changes in the law and good practice.”
Councillor Trigg added that the council also ran an annual seminar for letting agents as well as a Landlord Accreditation Scheme (PAL), in conjunction with the university. This scheme aims to recognise landlords who are managing their properties to a good standard, and to encourage these properties to be improved and maintained to a high standard.
The vast majority of HMOs in the borough are not ‘licensable’ but are still subject to the Management Regulations. Two of the properties involved in this prosecution are not ‘licensable’ HMOs because they do not meet that criteria, but the company has still been found guilty of offences in relation to these. The council wants to make it clear to all landlords and managing agents of HMOs locally that the regulations apply to all HMOs and the council has an inspection regime that includes inspections of both licensable and non-licensable properties.
The Partnership Accreditation Scheme (PAL) can be contacted on: http://www.pal-online.org.uk/
