Royal Greenwich fines Rogue Landlords £25,000 for negligency

by WO Saff | Greenwich

Two irresponsible landlords are now facing fines of almost £25,000 following successful legal action taken against them by the Royal Borough of Greenwich’s Rogue Landlords team.

Overgrown Garden on the Footscray Rd Property.
(Credit: RBG).

The Royal Borough set up its Private Rented Sector Housing Enforcement Programme Team in 2013 to take robust action against rogue landlords who fail to manage their property safely and responsibly and drive up standards of rented property in the borough.  In that time well over a 1000 local properties have been visited and landlords have been instructed to make hundreds of improvements where poor standards and dangers to tenants have been found.  

In extreme cases the Royal Borough will take legal action to tackle Rogue Landlords which this week has seen two successful prosecution cases, with fines of almost £25,000, concluded in Bexley Magistrates Court (Tuesday 9 June). 

Local landlord Siteworth Ltd was ordered to pay a total of £19,720, including the council’s prosecution costs and a victim surcharge, for failing to manage their property to satisfactory standards. Siteworth ltd pleaded guilty to 9 consolidated offences.  Siteworth Ltd’s sole director, Mr Timothy Knight, admitted the offences and accepted a caution from the court.

The house, a 2 Storey Victorian Link detached property on Footscray Road in Eltham, was rented and occupied by single people. It was split into eight individual bedsit style units, most consisting of an open plan living/sleeping area with a small kitchenette.  Tenants shared the communal bathroom and toilet facilities. Siteworth Ltd and Mr Knight purchased the property in 2010 in cash at auction with a view to redeveloping the site. 

This case came to the attention of the team in 2014 when local MP Clive Efford reported the tenants concerns. They complained to him that there were four flats without hot water, no heating in the hallways, bathrooms with visible mould and damp, rotten window frames without locks (which invalidated any contents insurance), no fan in a kitchen window, an overgrown garden and repairs in the property taking many months to be arranged.

Broken shared toilet on Footscray Rd property.
(Credit: RBG)

Tenants told the team they had no hot water for a number of years and when they complained to him about this Mr Knight said that they should boil a kettle for all their needs. The team carried out an inspection and found good evidence to support the tenants’ allegations as well as other serious breaches of housing management Regulations including inadequate fire safety protection and inadequate heating in the flats.

The Regulations place duties on landlords and managers to repair and maintain shared rental property, its facilities and the equipment provided within it, and keep everything clean and in good order as well. The landlords in this case tried to pass on their management responsibilities (including the responsibility for clearing a seriously overgrown shared garden) by writing them into the tenancy agreements.

The tenants were longstanding and had to live with poor conditions for considerable time. From information obtained from the tenants the team estimated Siteworth and Mr Knight made approximately £44,000 per year in rents from this property with no mortgage.

Due to the serious nature and volume of the offences the team investigated this case from the start as a criminal matter. As well as bringing the court case the team required the landlord to undertake a range of improvements and monitored their progress. The property has now been brought up to an acceptable standard.

Unfortunately Siteworth and Mr Knight legally evicted some of their tenants before the court case took place. Whilst the council believed that this may have been a retaliatory eviction it was powerless to prevent it under the current law. From October this year new laws will mean that a tenant cannot be served with a notice to quit by their landlord whilst there are legal notices requiring emergency works or improvements outstanding. The landlord will not be able to evict the tenants for 6 months.

Some of Mr Knight’s former tenants were present in court to see justice done. They wanted to remain anonymous but said they are happy that Prosecution had taken place although they felt there is still more to be done like harsher sentences for slum landlords and mandatory inspections to prevent this from happening in the future.

In the second case Maher Hajaj was prosecuted for operating a large house in multiple occupation (HMO) on Greenwich High Road without a license and failing to provide information requested when the team served a legal notice on him. Mr Hajaj was found guilty of both of both offences and ordered to pay a total of £3201.66 including the council’s costs and victim surcharge within 21 days.

The premises is a three storey terraced house with an occupied basement level. The premises were occupied by students and consisted of 6 bedrooms, two bathrooms (one on the second floor and one outside, one toilet and a kitchen on the ground floor which is shared.  The occupiers all share the communal bathroom and toilet facilities.

The tenants complained to the team about their living conditions. The team inspected and identified that Mr Hajaj required a license for the property. A license application pack and reminder letters were sent to Mr Hajaj and officers telephoned him several times to remind him to apply for a license but he didn’t do so and eventually the council started legal proceedings against him. 

Broken Shared Bath on the Footscray Rd.
(Credit: RBG)

Now their landlord has been convicted of failing to license the property the law allows the tenants in this case to claim their rent back. The Council will offer every assistance to Mr Hajaj’s tenants if they now wish to approach a tribunal for a rent repayment order.

In Royal Greenwich HMOs that are 3 or more storeys tall and house 5 or more tenants who don’t live as one household require a license to operate from the team because of greater risks to tenants’ safety.

Mr Hajaj has informed the team that there are now 3 tenants living at the property and therefore no license is needed. The team will continue to monitor the property.

Councillor Jackie Smith, Royal Borough of Greenwich Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Environment said: “Improving the quality of private rented homes and protecting tenants from greedy and exploitative landlords is at the heart our Rogue Landlord scheme.  The Royal Borough will push for the strongest possible action to protect private tenants and ensure they have somewhere to live that is safe and properly managed. Tenants must also feel that they can raise issues with their landlords without the fear of losing their home.

“We know that the majority of private landlords are professionals and offer decent rented accommodation. The team are always happy to offer advice to landlords on how they can meet their legal responsibilities.  We also has a range of measures in place to support responsible landlords including help to bring the quality of their properties up to standard and opportunities to lease their properties to the council to provide safe and secure homes for local families in need.”

“I would urge anyone with concerns about the conditions in local private rented properties to contact the team and help us crack-down on those landlords who put their profits before their legal responsibilities and the safety of their tenants.”

Anyone who has concerns about unsafe or badly managed privately rented properties can report them to the Rogue Landlords team by telephoning 020 8921 8157 or by email to residentialservices@royalgreenwich.gov.uk.  Private landlords are welcome to also contact the team for advice about licensing requirements, maintaining safe standards and good management in their properties.

Landlords Support scheme and Business Club

Landlords who want to find out how the Royal Borough can help them lease their property to the Council, discover the range of help (including grants) available to improve their stock, or join the flourishing Landlords Business Club can call 020 8921 2531 or email: hactrac@royalgreenwich.gov.uk.