Ipswich landlord is latest to face huge fine for unlicenced HMO

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A rogue landlord and his firm have been fined more than £50,000 in fines and cost for renting out a dangerous and illegal flat as an HMO.

Francis Investments (East Anglia) of St Helens Street, Ipswich and director Ralph Bernard were both convicted of ten HMO-related offences.

Ipswich Borough Council, which is one of the most enthusiastic prosecutors of rogue landlords in the UK, found a range of fire safety concerns in June 2019 after Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service attended an incident and flagged up problems.

An employment agency was also concerned about the number of workers registered at the address.

Ipswich Magistrates Court heard that although planning permission had been granted for the building to be converted into four flats in 1996, it was converted into five flats including an apartment in the basement – despite being specifically prohibited by the council.

Officers also found the conversion works had not been signed off under building regulations.

Its investigation found a poorly positioned skylight into the rear yard of the basement flat used for natural light and ventilation, along with electrical defects throughout the building.

Pre-payment meter

A fire alarm system and communal lighting did not work properly because it was running on a pre-payment meter, ventilation ducts, doors and walls weren’t properly designed to protect the fire escape route from fire and smoke, and there were leaks and water damage throughout the building.

Bernard was fined £29,000 while his company was fined £7,250, with costs of £16,836 and a victim surcharge of £181.

Ian Blofield, the council’s head of housing and community services, says: “Flats and HMOs can pose additional risks to the health, safety and wellbeing of residents if they are not properly designed and managed. This case demonstrates that the council will hold to account those who disregard the law and put residents at risk.”

Read more about HMOs.

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NEW: Ground-breaking land portal launches for property investors plotting next move

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Landlords and developers looking for land or redevelopment properties for sale now have a new resource to help their searches.

Addland.com aims to digitise land sales, making it easier for developers, land agents and house builders to find, research, buy and sell land, claiming to be the first of its kind in the UK.

Land for sale is uploaded by estate agents, house builders and strategic land alliances using its Addland Agent subscription from which they can manage the sales process on the site from listing through to completion receiving offers digitally, getting an overview of leads and viewings, and communicating directly with buyers. 

Addland’s Pro subscription gives searchers access to advanced mapping that visualises plots while individual overlays reveal details such as flood zones, public rights of way, boundary details, acreage and terrain levels. 

Plotting prices

It can streamline analysis, pricing and selling of residential, commercial and agricultural land, so developers can identify and analyse plots more quickly.

The data is powered directly from source at Ordnance Survey, Land Registry and government sites, and is available remotely when in the field.

The free version of the site lets users register for off-market land alerts, organise viewings, submit offers and communicate with land agents through their personalised dashboard.

Founder Thomas McAlpine (pictured) says: “Our platform offers a single destination that brings land to life – an aggregation of existing industry subscriptions, an entire end-to-end back office service and all the research tools needed to undertake complete due diligence.

“Digitalising the whole process this way means we can create both time and financial efficiencies for our customers, making it easier to find, research, buy or sell land.”

More than 450 listings are now live on the platform with industry names including Savills, Bidwells and Land & New Homes Network already signed up.

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Minister reveals true number of rogue landlords on ‘pointless’ national database

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Even fewer landlords have been added to the national rogue landlord database than previously reported, as housing campaigners claim the government has hugely underestimated the numbers involved.

In response to a written question from Labour MP Navendu Mishra, Housing Minister Eddie Hughes said there were just 38 landlords and property agents listed on the database; last week, The Guardian reported that 39 had been handed banning orders since local councils gained powers to report the worst offenders.

Leading PRS campaigner Ben Reeve-Lewis (pictured) believes the government estimate of 10,500 rogue landlords operating in the property market has been “plucked out of thin air”.

He says these people may own numerous properties which several households will pass through each year, providing fresh victims on a rolling basis.

Reeve-Lewis also points to a growing number of law-abiding landlords who are turning rogue, frustrated by a lack of government help and restrictions around evictions – pushing tenants into the semi-criminal, parallel renting sector – leaving them without tenancies or deposit protection.

Procedurally difficult

Says Reeve-Lewis: “Banning orders are so procedurally difficult that few of the government’s 10,500 actually get one, in which case what is the point of them?

“Whilst it might be useful to know which rogue landlord operates elsewhere in the UK, it is unusual for a rogue to run properties in say Hackney and Bradford at the same time – they tend to stay more local.”

He believes a model similar to the GLA landlord checker would be more practical as this shares information over neighbouring London boroughs which actually helps the capital’s enforcement officers and tenants, who can check out whether to sign on the dotted line.

But, despite launching a consultation into a publicly available national register in 2019 – backed by organisations including the Local Government Association – there has been no government announcement since then.

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