NEWS
Fines and prosecutions Business partners fined for fire risks and hazards
RASHED HUSSAIN and Farhana Miah have been prosecuted for ‘failing to address’ fire hazards at a maisonette property above a takeaway restaurant in Shoreham.
Adur District Council reported
on its prosecution of Mr Hussain and Mrs Miah by noting that the business partners had taken over the leasehold of the restaurant and maisonette in 2016, but a council enforcement notice – from its private sector housing team – ‘was already in place at the property to address fire safety issues’. These had not been resolved
by the previous owner, so Mr Hussain and Mrs Miah were ‘given more time’ to undertake the work and make the property safe. However, an inspection in February of this year found that there ‘were still risks to the health and safety of the occupiers’ of the maisonette. These issues included a lack of fire detection equipment, as well as ‘inadequate’ separation between the ground floor commercial kitchen and the maisonette. In turn, there was an ‘inadequate’ means of escape from the property, and so the council took the owners to court. At Worthing Magistrates Court, Mr Hussain and Mrs Miah stated
that when they bought the property ‘they had not been aware’ that it was a house in multiple occupation (HMO), or that the enforcement notice was in place. In addition, they both stated that they had ‘now surrendered’ the lease on the maisonette. However, the magistrates
commented that neither Mr Hussain nor Mrs Miah had ‘taken into consideration the real risks presented by the poor housing conditions and the real people whose lives were put at risk’. At the court, they both pleaded guilty to three separate offences relating to breaching HMO management regulations, with Mr Hussain fined £1,163 for each offence plus a victim surcharge of £116.
Mrs Miah meanwhile was fined £498 for each offence, plus a £49 victim surcharge, and both of them were ordered to pay £1,000 each towards the costs incurred by the council. A council spokesman stated: ‘This case shows the importance of the work carried out by the Council’s Private Sector Housing and Legal teams as well as the importance placed by the courts on fire safety precautions in rented accommodation, especially when they are above high risk premises.
‘Owners should be aware that a notice served under the Housing Act 2004 follows the property, even if sold, and that new owners will still be required to comply with its requirements or face legal action.’
York’s ‘shocking’ HMOs see council crackdown commented that the council was ‘disappointed’ with the standards – ‘inadequate’ fire safety and ‘a lack of’ carbon monoxide detectors being just two of the fire, and health and safety issues found.
AMONG THE issues found in rental homes in the city of York were missing fire safety measures, resulting in the council being ‘disappointed’ with the standard of properties inspected. York Press reported on the
‘crackdown’ by the City of York Council on rental properties, after its inspectors discovered that many of the 117 houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) had no ‘proper windows’, had missing ceilings or were ‘lacking’ fire safety measures. Housing manager Ruth Abbott
Other homes had windows ‘hanging off frames’, while a student house had a bedroom with no outside window ‘but an internal window into the kitchen’, and another home had a toilet with no suspended ceiling – the building’s landlord stating that ‘someone had pinched it’. One house with
14 MARCH 2020
www.frmjournal.com
35 residents found that five of the bedsits were too small and should not be rented out, while another featured no fire detection system or fire doors across the property. She added that inspections
were being carried out under new laws demanding that HMOs be licensed, with one landlord fined £30,000 for not having a licence, though ‘in most cases’ they have 18 months to ‘bring homes up to scratch’ before a prosecution is considered, and training is also provided to landlords
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