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Landlord Pays £9,500 Penalty for Failing to Maintain Property
This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
A Liverpool buy-to-let landlord has been ordered to pay close to £9,500 after his property failed to meet acceptable living standards.
John William Kildare did not comply with an improvement notice and was found guilty of the offence which left his tenant living in dangerous conditions.
The property on Hanford Avenue in Orrel Park, according to Liverpool City Council, had a long list of issues including damp, mould, electrical problems, asbestos, and missing smoking alarms.
Kildare, of Eldred Road, Childwall, was fined £2,000 at Liverpool Magistrates Court, where District Judge Andrew Shaw also ordered the rogue landlord to pay £3,000 in relation to the failure to comply with the Improvement Notice and awarded the council costs of £4,410.
Cllr Lynnie Hinnigan, deputy mayor and cabinet member for housing, commented: “This prosecution highlights the desperate need for our Landlord Licensing scheme.
“Here we have a landlord operating with wanton disregard for the safety of their tenant and blatantly ignoring our attempts to get him to licence the property and carry out basic improvements to make it liveable.
“Landlord licensing is a foot in the door, enabling us to create a dedicated team who have made a huge difference to the lives of many vulnerable tenants.
“We are determined to take action where we can to ensure that housing is suitable and safe, and will robustly enforce and use all available powers in all instances.”
