A rogue landlord from Mapperley has been landed with a £1600 legal bill after the City Council discovered a range of hazardous defects at one of his properties which he failed to fix.
Mr Sukhjinder Singh Sanghera of Plains Rd, Mapperley, pleaded guilty to not complying with the requirements of an Improvement Notice which was served on him by the council last October.
Nottingham Magistrates Court heard on Friday, September 4th that Mr Sanghera is a professional landlord with 22 rented properties. Following a lengthy investigation by Nottingham City Council, an Improvement Notice was served on Mr Sanghera in October 2014 due to extensive housing disrepair at a privately rented property in Nottingham.
The defects included:
- A dangerous main staircase
- An inadequate heating system
- No fire detection at all
- Access to the gas and electric meter via a trap door to the cellar with a rotten ladder
- Broken windows and insecure doors.
The Improvement Notice required work to be undertaken to remove or reduce these hazards to an acceptable level. However, when the notice expired, it was found that none of the hazards had been properly addressed.
In sentencing Mr Sanghera the magistrate noted that Mr Sanghera had acted recklessly in not complying and placed his tenants at considerable risk. Mr Sanghera was fined £400 and ordered to pay costs of £1,192 and a £40 Victim Surcharge.
Even after being made aware that he was being prosecuted, Mr Sanghera failed to complete all the works and the council is now carrying out some of the works to ensure that the risks are finally removed and that tenants can safely inhabit the property.
Councillor Nicola Heaton, Portfolio Holder for Communities, said:: “This landlord blatantly disregarded legal notices served by the Council and informal negotiations before this. Even now he has failed to bring his property up to standard. This has to be a case where the label ‘rogue landlord’ can be applied.”
