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TODAY'S OTHER NEWS

Rogue landlord ordered to pay more than £150k for safety failings

An unscrupulous landlord has been ordered to pay more than £150,000 after failing to fix several safety hazards in his property.

Officers from Dudley Council’s private sector housing team decided to take action against Latif Rehman after he failed to rectify numerous hazards relating to fire and electrical safety, as well as risk of entry by intruders, which it deemed posed an imminent risk to the safety of its tenants.

The officers urged the landlord to take action after initially inspecting the three-storey, four-bedroom property Dudley in February, following a complaint from one of the tenants. 

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A follow-up inspection in April found that insufficient works had been undertaken to amend the problems.

Among the problems were fire doors that failed to comply with regulations, access to the property was not properly controlled and damp was still present.

 

Rehman, of Lordswood Road, in Birmingham, was fined £50,000 by Wolverhampton Magistrates Court for each offence and ordered to pay £1,000 in costs and a £170 victim surcharge.

Rehman, aged 60, who is regarded as ‘a significant player’ in the local private rented sector, was ordered to pay more than £340,000 two years ago after converting several houses into bedsits without planning permission

The rogue landlord could now face a rent repayment order and a banning order.

Alan Lunt, deputy chief executive at Dudley Council, said: “Landlords are not above the law. They must comply with standards to fulfil their legal responsibility to protect the safety of their tenants.

“This case demonstrates that we take these cases very seriously and will take action against anyone failing to fulfil their obligation.”

Want to comment on this story? If so...if any post is considered to victimise, harass, degrade or intimidate an individual or group of individuals on any basis, then the post may be deleted and the individual immediately banned from posting in future.

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    Landlords in Dudley need to watch out. The council have suddenly turned from being very easy going and wanting to work with landlords to wanting to prosecute or impose civil penalties on them.

    It looks like Rehman did not realise this. No longer can you ignore the council unless of course you are the council and you can get away with whatever you want. A bit like Tesco's policing Waitrose Sainsbury's and all the other supermarkets. Double standards or appalling and I do not know how the council officers reconcile this
    Jim haliburton HMO daddy

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    In other words '' pot kettle black '' just like Mr Hancock and many others

     
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    Their intention is to destroy & Bankrupt us, don’t know why but it’s a collective effort.

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    They can try, but they will have a fight on their hands.

     
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    Why is every LL repeatedly referred to by Council as a Rogue LL this is differentiation of character. Ok LL he has been fined the price of a house in a back water of Coventry, does that mean he is a Rogue, he had done some of the work required in a very short time
    frame, from Inspection to Inspection Feb’ to Apr’ only one month in between in an occupied property, they certainly came back quickly, they didn’t say he didn’t have fire doors but said they were inadequate so looks like some work was done. What’s all this about security of the Tenants, the intruders is probably in bigger danger from the occupants. All this happened on the back of a complaint by the Tenant, when a LL has a complaint about the Tenant Council not interested in taking action against them but maybe prosecute the LL for what the Tenant had done. It seems to me the LL could do with victim support. The Council should be very happy with this LL they have had half a million quid already also talking about Claw Back, they just need some LL’s they have a vendetta against and all their financial woe will be over.

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    I’m at a loss to know what’s happened to property market I thought I used to know now it doesn’t add up. The main SD holiday finishes today whether it was ever a holiday or con-trick. It was already too high in any case, before if you bought a Flat or House for £500k you paid £15’000 SD a big whack, Then Mr G Osborne comes along & double it to £30’000 on same purchase, (madness). So Mr Rishi Sunak comes along and halved it to where it was and called it a big reduction/ holiday, really must know we are complete mugs. Suppose you buy a house to make 2 Flats if allowed, half £m gone add SD £30k, do the figures, Architect £5k, Council fees £1’600. Mayor of L’don CIL £60. m2 (usually £4’000. £2k per Flat) then add on 20% vat on everything. What pays the Bank where is the beef, how many years to get the fees back alone never mind the cost of doing the work & paying for the property, no nothing viable at all, now more expensive to achieve loaded with Building Regulations, Insulation, EPC’c , network cable’s etc. Want to hang on to them forget that a load of Licensing Schemes to drain the last drop.

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