25th
Nov 2021
Not only has a landlord been ordered to pay back nearly £47,000 in rents to tenants he also has the dubious honour of being fined £24,750 on top.
Three years ago in December 2018 Preston Council started an investigation following a tenant’s complaint about the poor and dangerous living conditions in a student HMO in the town.
Following an inspection of the property the enforcement team served the landlord, Michael Gibbons, with an Improvement Notice for repairs to the house which must be completed by February 17th 2019.
The landlord was also found to be letting out the property without having applied for the mandatory HMO licence.
The council has issued a statement saying that it has on numerous occasions tried to work ‘hand in hand’ with the landlord to carry out the necessary improvements and repairs in his student HMOs in the town. Gibbons had continually failed to respond to the council and because of this it flatly refused his belated applications for the outstanding HMO Licences for his properties.
And finally in September 2019 the landlord was fined for not undertaking the necessary repairs in one of his properties as well as not applying for an HMO licence – he was fined £24,750 - £12,375 for each of the two offences.
Needless to say the landlord appealed against the actions at a First Tier Tribunal and because of the pandemic the appeal was unable to be held until October 2020 which was dismissed by the Tribunal and confirmed the fines.
With Gibbons failing to pay the fines the council took the necessary steps to enforce them through the courts.
The landlord also launched a further appeal on the council’s decision of not granting him any HMO licences across his properties as he was not ‘a fit and proper person’ to run licensed HMOs in Preston. His appeal was instantly dismissed at the subsequent First Tier Tribunal.
Preston council is now adding Gibbons’ name to the countrywide rogue landlord database so all authorities are aware of his shocking behaviour.
The investigation teams also found that 13 of the landlord’s tenants have applied for rent repayments through the First Tier Tribunal and because of his past failings the rogue has now been ordered to pay back rent to those tenants to the tune of £46,908.
A council spokesperson says: “Whilst most landlords are responsible and provide good accommodation, our dedicated and conscientious team of officers…work hard to ensure the residents of Preston are protected from poor landlords such as Mr Gibbons, and that justice is served.”
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