[07
APR 00] COVENTRY CITY COUNCIL NEWS
Landlord Fined For Filthy House
BY ANTONY HOPKER
A
Coventry landlord has been fined £11,000 after allowing one of the
biggest rented houses in the city to get into a filthy and dangerous
state.
Jaspal
Enterprises Ltd was given the fine after pleading guilty to six
breaches of Housing Regulations at the house in Stoney Stanton Road.
Coventry
magistrates heard of a catalogue of shocking discoveries by
Environmental Health Officers in July 1999 including broken communal
toilets and a filthy communal kitchen.
There
were holes and rust in the metal fire escape and lightbulbs missing in
the fire escape route, leaving it in darkness. Fire alarm sounders
were also found to be hanging off the wall.
The
court heard that the house was one of the largest in the city to rent
as it can hold up to 20 people.
It
is the first time that officers in the city have used the regulations
to bring a landlord to court.
Normally
they serve a notice on the offender ordering them to make
improvements, but a repeat visit in October revealed that nothing had
changed.
The
rules are designed to protect people living in large privately-rented
houses in the city. Around 1,500 properties fall into this category.
Principal
Environmental Health Officer Wendy Rollings said that the rules only
applied to houses where rooms were let to people who had nothing to do
with the other residents.
She
said:
“A
house shared by students wouldn’t come under this legislation if
they all moved in together, and shared some of the tasks and paid
the bills.
“The
main concern is from a point of view of fire safety. If there was a
fire would the people in the house know if anyone else was in there.
“The
people who live in these kinds of houses tend to be more vulnerable.
“Normally
we just serve an order but the landlord did not co-operate with us,
so the decision to prosecute in this way was taken.
“The
conditions were disgusting and it looked as if the kitchen hadn’t
been cleaned for several months. A lot of the residents bought ready
to eat food because a lot of the equipment didn’t work.”
She
added that routine inspections were carried out at similar properties,
but this investigation was launched following a complaint.
The
court heard that Jaspal Enterprises Ltd has since ceased trading. But
magistrates decided to impose the fine regardless and awarded the city
council £688 costs.
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