Mar

‘Disappeared’ lettings agency to pay £30,000 to tenants over unlicensed HMO

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A rogue letting agent has been hit with rent repayment orders totalling more than £30,000 after failing to licence an HMO.

The owner of 67 Cleveland Way in Bethnal Green let the property for single household use to Home Connect Ltd, who in turn sub-let it to J&G Home Share Limited, who then rented it as an HMO.

A First Tier Property Tribunal heard that the property was covered by Tower Hamlets Council’s additional licence scheme which has been running since April 2019.

One of the five tenants, Axel Buchaillot, lived there from September 2020 until March 2021, paying £628 a month. He told the tribunal that all six rooms in the property were occupied by separate households during that time.

The tribunal also heard that J&G Home Share Limited had taken no active role in the proceedings and had effectively gone to ground. The five-year-old company appears to have ceased trading – its Companies House listing reveals it is about to be struck off the register for failing to submit its annual accounts, although it still has an active director – Manuel Perez.

Judge Shepherd ruled that the agent was the responsible party with regard to the rent repayment order as it had granted the licence/tenancies to the applicants.

He said: “The tribunal has no hesitation in finding that the premises were being operated as an unlicensed HMO at the time of all of the applicants’ occupation, such that the applicants are all entitled to rent repayment orders.”

Each of the five tenants were awarded full rent repayment orders, adding up to £30,310.

Read the tribunal decision in full.

J&G Home Share Limited has 28 days to appeal the decision.

View Full Article: ‘Disappeared’ lettings agency to pay £30,000 to tenants over unlicensed HMO