A landlord who let three of his properties fall into dangerous disrepair has been ordered to pay almost £14,000.

Preston Magistrates’ Court heard that David Waddington left vulnerable tenants to live in poor conditions including damp and mould, exposed electrical hazards, holes in the ceiling, excessive cold, and fire risk.

The court was told that Burnley Council officers initially visited one property after complaints were raised, but the poor state of the house prompted them to discover similar issues in his other two houses.

Waddington, whose last known address was in Pendleton, Clitheroe, was told to carry out repairs on each of the three properties in Padiham, (pictured) but on return visits the officers found that only relatively minor work had been done. He was served with improvement notices to carry out essential work but failed to do so.

Offences

Waddington admitted three offences of breaching improvement notices and was fined £3,840 per property and ordered to pay a £2,000 victim surcharge and £450 in costs.

A council spokesperson says Waddington’s tenants have finally seen some kind of justice after almost two years of investigation and serving legal notices. He adds: “The tenants were all vulnerable in one way or another and were forced to live in such poor conditions that you could see the effect it was having on their health and well-being.

“Burnley Council won’t tolerate those poor landlords that don’t care about their tenants and the sometimes appalling conditions they are forced to live in. We don’t want them in our borough.”

The council is working with contractors to carry out repair work to remove the hazards and make the houses safe.