A real estate company and its manager will have to shell out £ 10,000 after a fire ravaged a semi-detached house leaving six tenants homeless amid the foreclosure.
Barnet Council discovered the property in Hendon to be an unlicensed multi-occupancy house (HMO) after it was called to the scene at Hall Lane by London firefighters in April 2020.
The tenants were fortunate enough to escape without injury, and council staff helped them find emergency accommodation, later identifying numerous violations of minimum safety standards for HMOs.
An investigation by the council found that the property had no fire doors or extinguishers, and an inadequate fire alarm.
The fire damaged the property. Credit: Barnet Council
Keylid Property Limited and its director Ali Reza Mirzaie have pleaded guilty to failing to license the Hall Lane house and to failing to meet minimum management standards. They were each ordered to pay a fine of £ 2,500, £ 181 in victim fine surcharge and £ 2,411.45 in costs after being sued by Barnet Council at Willesden Magistrates’ Court on March 11.
Councilor Richard Cornelius, Chairman of the Housing and Growth Committee, said: “Six lives have been put at risk because of the negligence of one man and his real estate company. This is unacceptable.
“We will prosecute and take action against all landlords who violate property law to the detriment of their tenants.” HMOs must be licensed, to ensure safety standards are met at all times – if not, you can expect a hefty fine when we take you to court. ”
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Source: www.times-series.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-04-13 16:00:00
