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Landlord Fined £75,000 for Unlicensed HMOs
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 landlord has been fined a total of £75,215 for several offences, including failing to license four Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs).
Gunapalan Vamathevan was prosecuted for nine offences at Ealing Magistrates’ Court on 6th August 2015.
Landlord Fined £75,000 for Unlicensed HMOs
The prosecution followed an investigation after reports last year that Vamathevan was managing a number of unlicensed HMOs.
Ealing Council’s regulatory services also discovered breaches regarding the management of the properties, including dangerous staircases and other hazards.
Several HMO licensing application forms and warning letters were sent to Vamathevan, but he did not submit any applications.
Further inspections revealed that the required works relating to a number of improvement notices had not been conducted and prohibition orders had been breached.
Ealing Council says it has a strict approach regarding this type of offence and therefore prosecuted Vamathevan for failing to manage his properties and failing to comply with the notices served.
The landlord did submit HMO license applications for his properties, but after the prosecution had begun.
Councillor Ranjit Dheer, Cabinet Member for Safety, Culture and Community Services, says: “This case is a significant result against an unscrupulous landlord who has previously been prosecuted by the council for his disregard of licensing regulations.
“We make every effort to ensure residents in our borough are well protected and have decent living standards. We take a tough line against anyone who deliberately flouts the law and Mr. Vamathevan has quite rightly been given a very heavy penalty for his prolonged and intentional illegal behaviour.”1
