£23,000 fine for Hertfordshire fire safety breach landlords
Two Landlords from Hertfordshire have been fined a total of £23,000 for breaching fire safety regulations.
Fiaz Mahmmud and Audrey Feegrado were found guilty of five breaches of the Housing (Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation) Regulations 2006. Both pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The pair were found guilty of failing to provide an adequate means of escape or sufficient smoke alarms. They had also failed to ensure an adequate fire risk assessment had been carried out on the property.
Council chief executive Michel Saminaden said: “I’m very pleased with the result. It lays the foundation for a number of future projects that the council is working on to improve the quality of private sector housing within the borough. These severe fire safety breaches of the Housing (Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation) Regulations 2006 could have resulted in fatalities.”
Information on current HMO regulations can be found here.
London landlord fined £18,000 for fire safety breaches
A London landlord has been found guilty of several fire safety breaches.
Mr Adrian Francis Lasrado from Wallington was told by the council that he was not permitted to rent his renovated property because the property did not comply with fire safety standards including having no suitable fire escape.
Despite the council prohibition order, Mr Lasrado rented the property to a family with 2 young children.
The landlord has now been prosecuted and fined £10,000 for the planning offence and £5,000 for failing to comply with the prohibition order. He was also ordered to pay £3,585 in costs.
Councillor Jayne McCoy from Sutton Council’s housing department, said: “These were blatant contraventions, which placed the lives of vulnerable tenants at risk. The fines issued are extremely high and reflect the seriousness of the offences and the disregard shown by Mr Lasrado to the law and the safety of his tenants. We have a good working relationship with the vast majority of landlords in Sutton and this was an exceptional case, but we will not hesitate to take formal action to protect the lives of our residents.”
Landlord putting tenant’s lives at risk is forced to close building
A Cheshire landlord has been fined £6,000 and £2,500 in legal costs after being found guilty of breaching a number of fire safety regulations. Firefighters took the decision to ban anyone from inhabiting the property due to the seriousness of the situation.
The property was found to have locked fire escape routes, inadequate fire alarms and blocked fire exits.
Mr Meloni has now been permitted to open some of the flats now that he has successfully implemented fire safety measure and has produced an adequate fire risk assessment with the help and guidance of the fire service.