Given the amount of publicity recently about local authority crackdowns on the activities of rogue landlords, you might be forgiven for thinking that any landlord with half a brain would make a point of adhering to legislation and treating their tenants fairly. But apparently this is still not the case and in a news report I read the other day, another landlord has been forced to pay the price for not playing by the rules.
The landlord in question rented out a property in Reading to multiple tenants, only he never managed to find the time to carry out essential repairs and make the place liveable. The property was described as “rundown” by council officers and despite numerous requests for information, the landlord failed to reply. Tenants were forced to put up with damaged electrical sockets and smoke alarms, a faulty gas supply to the property that left them with without hot water, heating or cooking facilities, plus sections of plasterboard were missing from the ceilings.
Following a lengthy investigation, the landlord was found guilty on twenty charges related to his property and fined £665. Because he subsequently claimed that he was unable to pay, the court imposed a day’s stint in prison, to run concurrently with a separate sentence dealt out for drugs related offences.
Personally I think that sentencing the landlord to a grand total of one day inside is fairly pointless, but I suppose it is better than nothing and at least it sends out the message that local authorities will not stand by while rogue landlords abuse their tenants.
