A Nottinghamshire landlord has been fined £17,500 after local council officers discovered he was operating two properties without a licence.

Both rental homes were within the selective licencing area of a scheme operated by Ashfield District Council in the town of Sutton-in-Ashfield since 2017, and extended in 2022 for a further five years. The scheme covers the New Cross (main image) and Stanton Hill areas of the market town, although these areas were modified on extension.

Despite the landlord's large fine, the council has been relatively lenient on him despite he and his agent ignoring the council’s written requests to get in touch, which included a final warning to get the properties licenced.

Also, the council has been unable to name the landlord or the properties involved after agreeing to shield him from public scrutiny in return for ‘accepting the penalty’,

The council says his properties were included within local selective licencing after an existing scheme was extended two years ago, saying they had helped to bring about change and improvement to homes and the wider community.

Both properties featured safety issues which are being dealt with separately.

Investigation

As part of an investigation into the landlord, Environmental Health Residential Team officers visited the two properties and identified that they were occupied and there were concerns relating to the safety of the properties, which is being dealt with separately to the licencing offences.

John Bennett (pictured), Executive Director of Place, says “It is a criminal offence to let a privately rented property in a designated area without a Selective Licence in place.

“Penalties include prosecution and an unlimited fine or a financial penalty up to £30,000. Enforcement action is always a last result, we will always try to engage with, and support landlords to apply for their license first.

“Selective Licensing has brought real positive changes to the designated areas, it allows the Council to regulate the housing for the safety of both the tenants and the landlords.”