Council in third successful prosecution of same landlord in two years

A local authority in Wales has successfully prosecuted a landlord for the third time in just two years.

Cardiff Council first prosecuted Gary Samuel – owner of a property in Corporation Road, Grangetown – following an inspection by its officers in 2012.

An improvement notice under Part 2 of the Housing Act was subsequently served on the landlord, requiring works of improvement and repair to be carried out.

Samuel failed to comply with this notice and failed to comply with the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Wales) Regulations 2006.

In October 2012 he was convicted at Cardiff Magistrates Court and fined £1,200.

The council engaged in further correspondence with the landlord advising him of the need to comply with the legislation.

Cardiff prosecuted Samuel again in June 2014. He was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay costs of £200.

The landlord had meanwhile been served with a notice in April 2014 under section 235 of the Housing Act. This required Samuel to submit documentation to the local authority to evidence that systems were in place to protect the health, safety and welfare of his tenants.

The documents requested were: 

• The current and immediately previous gas certificates for the property;
• A current electrical installation condition report for the property;
• A current energy performance certificate for the property;
• The current fire alarm commissioning or test and inspection certificate for the property;
• All current tenancy agreements;
• The last three years’ certified accounts for the property;
• When Samuel failed to comply, Cardiff initiated legal proceedings for the third time.

The defendant did not attend the subsequent hearing held at Cardiff Magistrates Court on 28 August.

He was convicted in his absence and fined a further £200 for the offences. In addition, he was ordered to pay £200 towards Cardiff’s costs as well as a £20 victim surcharge. 

Cllr Bob Derbyshire, Cabinet Member with responsibility for Regulatory Services at Cardiff, said: “This was a particularly serious case where a rogue private landlord thought it acceptable to ignore the legislation that is in place to protect tenants. The council will continue to pursue this minority of landlords in the private sector in order to ensure that people are housed in conditions which do not pose a risk to their health or safety.”