Industry News
Solicitor loses case as rogue landlord A
long running case against an East London solicitor was finally closed when she was convicted of failing to license two privately
rented properties in Dagenham. Ms Kate Okoli, who worked at a solicitors firm in
Barking, was fined £10,000 following a three-year battle after she was initially investigated in 2017, in relation to several properties. She has since been prosecuted for failing to license both premises on Hewett Road and Neville Road. Following the investigation, Ms Okoli was
invited by Barking and Dagenham Council to license the properties but tried to convince council officers that she lived in them. However, after further investigation, the council obtained evidence of unlawful letting without a license. After receiving a summons in June 2017, Ms.
Okoli then applied for licenses for both properties and claimed she had previously made them. In July 2018 she was found guilty at Barkingside Magistrates Court of illegally letting properties without the correct license, but she appealed the decision. During her appeal, Ms Okoli tried to deceive the
court by providing evidence that she had applied and paid for licenses for Hewett Road and Neville Road, but the court rejected her evidence as it referred to completely different properties.
Eventually Snaresbrook Crown Court dismissed
her appeal. Ms Okoli must now pay £1,000 per offence and £8,000 in costs to Barking and Dagenham Council. Councillor Margaret Mullane, Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety said:
“This is a great result and shows that lying doesn’t get you anywhere. Private landlords play a hugely important role, but they have to play by the rules. We can make sure everyone living in the borough has a safe place to call home.”
Plymouth landlord receives suspended prison sentence after gas safety failings
A private landlord from Plymouth has been sentenced after failing to maintain gas appliances and failing to have landlord’s gas safety checks undertaken at his rental property in Canterbury Drive, Plymouth. Plymouth Crown Court heard that in
August 2018, a concern was raised with the Health and Safety Executive by a previous tenant that no landlord’s gas safety checks had been carried out for three years. HSE made
numerous attempts to contact the landlord, Mr Thomas Brumby, but received no replies or representations. Having failed to provide HSE with a copy of
any landlord’s gas safety records for his tenanted property, a formal Improvement Notice was served on Brumby requiring him to arrange for the gas appliances at his tenanted property to be checked and maintained. Brumby ignored the Improvement Notice.
Thomas Brumby of Canterbury Drive, Plymouth,
pleaded guilty to breaching Regulations 36(3)(a) and 36(2)(a) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. He was sentenced to 15 weeks in prison for each offence, both suspended for 18 months, and ordered to pay costs of £1,500. After the hearing HSE inspector Simon Jones
said: “Thomas Brumby put the residents and other members of the public at risk of harm by failing to properly maintain gas appliances in a domestic property. He showed contempt of the law surrounding gas safety at a tenanted property. “Landlords must ensure they obtain a landlord’s
gas safety record and they maintain all gas appliances in accordance with the law.”
Social housing regulator’s fees rise by 15 per cent
The Regulator of Social Housing has confirmed that its fees levied on housing associations will rise by 15 per cent from April. Fees for HAs owning 1,000 or more homes will
increase to £5.42 per social housing unit in 2020/21, up from £4.72 in 2019/20. Fees for small providers
with less than 1,000 homes will stay at £300 a year and the initial registration fee will remain unchanged at £2,500. Guidance published by the regulator shows that it
expects to make £14.74m from the higher fees, compared with £12.75m in 2019/20. Fiona MacGregor, chief executive of the RSH, said the increased income would allow it to keep pace with the sector’s greater market focus and the emergence of for-profit providers. It estimates that it needs another 30 staff across
several teams, plus £700,000 for non-staff costs such as IT and external legal advice. Fees were originally
introduced by the regulator in October 2017. Invoices were due to be issued in March, with
fees due as a single payment within 30 days. Smaller housing associations “with cash flow considerations” could request to pay their fees in quarterly instalments. According to the regulator’s updated guidance,
registered providers that are part of a group structure in which the parent entity is registered with the RSH will be charged a single fee to the parent. Where the parent is unregistered, the fee is collected from each individual provider in the group.
www.housingmmonline.co.uk | HMM April/May 2020 | 9
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