Crackdown on landlords who fail tenants with poor quality housing

Rossendale Borough Council has announced a crackdown on landlords who fail to maintain their rental properties to a decent standard.

It follows the prosecution of a landlord who was then ordered to pay over £4,000 for failing to provide habitable living conditions for his tenants.

Bernard McKay, 65, of  Ashworth Road, Rochdale, was convicted in his absence of failing to comply with improvement notices served by the Council.

They required him to address a number of issues with his three properties on Percy Street, Whitworth, and meet his obligations under the Housing Act 2004.

When Environmental Health Officers visited the properties last year they found that they had inadequate smoke detection, poor heating, damp and mould growing as well as various matters of serious disrepair.

McKay was issued with the Improvement Notices however he failed to comply within the timescales set out.

Burnley Magistrates fined the landlord £1,980 (£660 per property), handed down costs of £2,374.77 and a victim surcharge of £66.

Councillor Barbara Ashworth, Portfolio holder for Health and Housing , said:

“I welcome the court’s tough penalty for this landlord and hope that it serves as a warning to others. Access to decent and safe housing should be everyone’s right and they should not have to worry about being taken advantage of by people who think they can flout the regulations. We are willing to work with landlords but we will not hesitate to take enforcement action if informal action fails.”