Housing Solicitors

Sandwell Council in the West Midlands has prosecuted a landlord for the second time over disrepair.

The landlord, Adnan Rashid, failed to attend court again – and was found guilty in his absence to failing to comply with an improvement notice served by Sandwell Council.

Rashid was fined £3,671 in his absence – when combined with a previous fine of £3,046 for his conviction for the same offence in November 2015, the total amount of fines against Rashid now stands at £6,717.

An officer from the council's housing quality team discovered disrepair at a property rented out by Rashid. The house had penetrating damp, damp and mould growth, broken windows, missing heating, unsafe floor covering, defective doors, loose electrical switches and lights, blocked guttering and a damaged roof, allowing water to leak into the property.

The council initially brought the case against Rashid after receiving complaints about the serious disrepair at the house in 2015 and successfully prosecuted him.

Following further inspections, the council brought a second case against the landlord when it became apparent that he was still not carrying out repairs at the property.

At a hearing on 16 August, Sandwell magistrates were told that Rashid – of Station Road in Brierley Hill – had remained unresponsive to all efforts by the council to resolve the issues by negotiation.

Rashid was fined £3,000, costs of £551.16, victim’s surcharge of £120 and £776.36 costs, a total of £3,671.16 in addition to his previous fine of £3,046 for the same offence.

After the hearing, Sandwell Council's Cabinet Member for housing, Councillor Kerrie Carmichael, said:

“We have a proud legacy of working with good landlords in this borough.

“However, a minority of unscrupulous landlords cause a lot of suffering to their tenants – and we are determined to bring to justice those corrupt landlords who believe they can operate above the law.”

Strategic manager for the health and wellbeing directorate, Stephen Gabriel, added:

“All landlords have a legal responsibility to keep their properties in a good state of repair – and this landlord has clearly failed to do so over a very long time.
“In this case, the council has again intervened against the landlord because he has continually failed in his responsibility to his tenant, despite being given further time to address the disrepair and despite previous fines by the courts.”

Duncan Lewis Housing Solicitors

Duncan Lewis housing solicitors can advise on a wide range of housing law, including landlords’ obligations under the Housing Act – as well as landlord and tenant disputes, disrepair of rented property, unlawful eviction and council’s obligation to re-house.

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Duncan Lewis also offers homebuyers conveyancing services, including guiding first-time buyers through the conveyancing process.

There are Duncan Lewis offices nationwide and our housing solicitors offer competitively- priced fixed fees, whenever possible.

For expert legal advice on housing matters, call Duncan Lewis housing solicitors on 0333 772 0409.