Landlord fined after man dies in HMO fire
A man has died at his home after a fire broke out whilst he was sleeping. The fire, thought to have been caused by a faulty fridge freezer started at about 11am on 18th November 2009.
Although fire alarms had been fitted in the Birmingham property, they had not been maintained and it was found that neither fire alarm had batteries in them at the time of the fire.
The landlord of the property, Mumtaz Mohammed was ordered to pay £2,500 in fines and £2,000 costs after pleading guilty at Birmingham Magistrates Court on 6th August 2010. Mr Mohammed was charged with failing to ensure that the fire alarms were working, under regulation 4 of the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation Regulations.
Hotel guilty of serious fire safety breaches
A Leicester hotel has been ordered to pay £29,715 in fines and £8,000 in costs after a number of safety breaches were discovered after a serious fire at the property in August 2009.
The Park Lane Hotel in Leicester, which is owned by Park Hotel Limited, had no evacuation procedure in place which meant guests had to evacuate themselves with no help or assistance from staff. It was also found that fire alarms were not loud enough to be heard in all parts of the building, fire doors had been left open and some fire escapes stairs were rotten and unsafe to use.
No one was hurt in the fire but it is very clear that due to the many safety failures, things could have been a lot worse.
£125,000 fine for safety blunder hotel
A hotel in Wilmslow has been fined more than £125,000 after a routine visit by fire officers discovered a catalogue of serious fire safety breaches.
The Belfry was closed immediately over fears for the safety of staff and guests. It was found that the hotel had faulty fire alarms, substandard fire exits and staff had not been trained sufficiently to deal with fires.
The hotel claims that after buying the hotel in 2007 they had inherited a ‘legacy’ of problems but told the court that the safety issues were “not a question of corner-cutting”.
Within days of the April 2008 inspection the hotel had installed all of the fire safety equipment needed and was permitted to reopen. There have been no further incidents.
The hotel was fined £25,000 for each of the offences, and £52,000 in costs. Judge Elgin said “With a certain cavalier disregard, it appears the company carried on trading and taking guests when quite clearly these guests were put at substantial risk.”
Hotel found guilty of putting guests at risk
Westminster Magistrates have found a London hotel guilty of breaching fire regulations.
Concerns were raised by guests staying at the Paddington hotel and an investigation by London Fire Brigade revealed that the hotel had failed to carry out a sufficient or suitable fire risk assessment which is a requirement under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. Officers also found emergency exits were blocked and fire doors wedged open.
Both defendants pleaded not guilty but were fined heavily. Owners Awan Investments were ordered to pay £27,000 and hotel manager, Malik Mohammed Bashir paid £5000.
Steve Turek, London Fire Brigade’s assistant commissioner for the fire safety regulation said “The general public should feel safe from fire when they are staying at a hotel and the responsible person must make sure their premises comply with the regulations.
Fulham landlord fined for breach of fire safety regulations
A landlord of a Fulham property was hit by a series of fines after failing to maintain conditions for his tenants it was revealed today.
Two months ago Rizwan Ahmed had to pay back £37,000 in rent, and now he has had to pay another £20,000 for a breach of regulations and not having the necessary House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) license needed to rent out property with five tenants or more.
In addition to these findings by the Residential Property Tribunal (RPT), where Hammersmith & Fulham Council were able to reclaim a year’s worth of housing benefits, Mr Ahmed was found to have failed in his duty to maintain fire doors and fire alarms within the property.
The RPT said that had there been a fire in the building, the blaze could have spread through the property quite rapidly.
If you are a landlord, hotel owner or run your own business, t is not worth risking a breach of regulations by failing to maintain the fire safety procedures in a building. Always make sure that fire safety equipment like fire alarms are installed and in full working order. You may also be required to send a number of your employees on a suitable fire warden training course.