An HMO landlord has lost his appeal against an improvement notice ordering him to update a 'paddle staircase' in a case that highlights the surprising lengths some councils will go to enforce licencing rules.

A paddle staircase (pictured) is one that uses special 'paddle' steps that enable the use of a steep staircase at more extreme angles than would normally be possible.

Benjamin Williams told a First Tier Property Tribunal that he had made sufficient changes to the staircase leading to the third storey of his property in Roehampton Vale, London, however, a judge ruled that his efforts weren’t enough to get the notice quashed.

The landlord was first handed the notice by Wandsworth Council in December 2022 – on the basis that there was a Category 1 hazard relating to the risk of a fall on the stairs - but contested this and agreed to take steps to rectify the issue in March 2023, within six months.

Measures included either replacing the paddle steps or removing a step to create a compliant gradient, adding a grip rail and underboarding the staircase with fire resistant plasterboard.

However, an inspection found that the paddle staircase was still at a steep gradient with uneven treads.

The professional landlord, who has over 50 properites within his portfolio, explained that the staircase had been in situ since 2009 when he received his first HMO licence and that he had worked with a qualified fire safety consultant following being handed the notice.

Wandsworth Council disagreed that the works sufficiently reduced the risk to tenants and said the landlord appeared only to be considering the fire safety element of the hazard whereas its main concern was falls. If it had been changed to a traditional style staircase it would have been satisfied.

The authority demanded costs of £619 but the judge refused. He said: “The suggestion within those conditions that a paddle staircase might be acceptable was misleading and led to the applicant expending money in trying to mitigate the risks posed by the paddle staircase when in reality the only acceptable solution was to replace it with a traditional staircase.”