A rogue landlord firm has been handed a £18,300 fine for letting out an unsafe, unlicensed property - only three months after being fined for the same offence in the same building.
MPL Estates Ltd rented the three-bedroom first-floor flat in Commercial Road, London, to three tenants who told a First Tier Property Tribunal it suffered from a litany of problems that the landlord failed to address.
During May 2022 to May 2023 there were no smoke alarms, fire alarms didn’t work, and bedrooms were without fire safety doors. Other issues included a broken front door lock, mould, exposed wires on the boilers and broken windows.
The tribunal heard that when complaints were made, the connected company, Wisteria Management Ltd, failed to deal with the complaints adequately or at all. Nothing was done about the fire alarms, tradesman would turn up announced, and electricity was cut off on one occasion.
The tenants felt they were being harassed and an attempt was made to terminate the tenancy unlawfully while they were still living at the flat.
The judge ordered that MPL Estates should pay a Rent Repayment Order to each tenant of £6,100 (80% of the rent) along with £400 court fees.
In August, MPL Estates Ltd and Wisteria Management Ltd were told by a tribunal to share a £15,303 rent repayment order – 90% of the rent - to three former tenants who moved into their top-floor, three-bedroom flat in the four-storey building in July 2021. Along with not having a licence, the flat suffered from numerous safety concerns including having no carbon monoxide alarm and a faulty front door lock which meant the tenants were either locked inside, or unable to get in.
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