An accredited Haringey landlord, with a large property portfolio, is the first to be fined under a special licensing scheme that regulates houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) in the Harringay Ladder area.
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At Tottenham Magistrates’ Court last month, Andreas Ioannou of Manor Property Group in Green Lanes N4 was fined £3,000 for failing to apply for the necessary HMO licence for a shared house in Seymour Road, N8.
Alibra Ltd, owned by other Ioannou family members, was also fined £1,000 for the same offence. The council was awarded full costs of £1,725.
The Ioannou family was warned more than a year ago that the new Additional Licensing Scheme meant most private rented HMOs would require a licence, regardless of size or number of occupants.
Despite many warnings, Mr Ioannou did not apply for a licence until summonsed to court, by which time it was too late.
Cllr Nilgun Canver, Cabinet Member for the Environment, said:
“Unlicensed HMOs have brought many problems to tenants and the community in certain parts of the borough.
“We introduced this Additional Licensing Scheme on the Harringay ladder to help improve matters, and we made every effort to advise landlords which properties would require HMO licenses.
“It’s very disappointing when landlords with many properties, who should know better, fail to take the required action. This case must reinforce our message to HMO landlords that if they don’t get the required licenses they will be subjected to a programme of targeted enforcement action.”
And it’s not just about being fined, convicted landlords could be deemed unfit to hold HMO licences at all, and would need to appoint someone else to manage properties for them.
In some cases landlords can face action by the council to recover up to 12 months of housing benefit paid on their unlicensed properties.
Mr Ioannou has now submitted licence applications for nine properties and has provided a list of other properties for which applications are to be submitted shortly.
