Evict a rogue Landlord - Shelter...

lynzpower

Come on Engerland, where are you???

tailing behind scared of scaring the poor little business man as per usual

red40

theartfullodger wrote: »

Come on Engerland, where are you???

Housing Act 2004, Part 4; Chapter 1. Additional control Provisions in relation to residential accommodation

Interim and Final Management Orders

http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/pdf/157287.pdf

Brb

theartfullodger wrote: »

Not really BRB, already (kinda ) happening....

Antisocial behaviour (Scotland) Act 2004 Section 74....

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2004/8/section/74


Good eh?? The act also brought in mandatory registration of landlords (still not 100% successful, but getting there..)

Come on Engerland, where are you???

Cheers! (Aye the noo...)

Artful

Have noticed Scotland seems to have more logical laws. I'd live there if I could understand a word you lot are saying! I have several scottish friends and I must admit I can only make out every third word and have to try and work out what they've said haha.

Police sell cars they've taken from un-insured drivers don't they ?

clutton_2

Bristol City Council ""It is to consider taking over management if a suitable licence holder does not come forward ""

All these stories of ownefrs of HMOs not complying with legislation are shocking, and un-necessary and surely deserve to be heavily criticised.. but


The definitions part of the 2004 Act was Really clear, and it was very simple, in its definitions of [EMAIL="H@MS"]HMOS[/EMAIL] and Licensable HMOs - during 2003-2003 i went to a lot of consultation meetings and landlords meetings, and everyone was fairly happy at the clarity of the definitions......

within weeks of the Act coming into forced, landlords up and down the country were be-moaning local authorities individualistic interpretations of the law ... some draconian .. some very lax.. it was a nightmare..... if you wanted to buy property in one town, sometimes entirely different criteria applied than in the next door town, and staff in council offices themselves often did not know the answers..

This dogs-dinner of a 2004 Housiong Act was poorly researched, badly drafted, rushed through, ... so is no wonder there are huge variations country wide...

I dont know if the Bristol local authority here is hoping that the owner can provide a new "Managing Agent" to be classified as a Fit And Proper Person to manage his HMOs - then that person will have the legal duty of management, but, will not have the funds to authorise repairs... so what will have changed - apart from the paperwork ?

Will Bristol City Council then have to start over with a brand new process of Compulsory Purchase if no new manager can be found - and if so, on what grounds will they act to purchase ?

Its a messy bit of legislation - written by folks unfamiliar with the nitty gritty of property management

lynzpower

Another shocking case: does this top the lot?

12th March 2010
Newham LBC complains of court’s leniency over worst house they had ever inspected. Tom Wall reports

A rogue landlord in east London who rented out a ‘house of horrors’ with a tarpaulin roof and holes in the walls only ‘received a slap on the wrists’ from the courts, Newham council has complained.

Devinder Jalaf was fined £5,000 for the five most serious offences after he admitted 24 offences at Stratford magistrates’ court in January (see box). The maximum fine he could have received was £120,000.

Andrew Baikie, Newham Council cabinet member for housing, said: ‘This case brings home the grim reality that there are people out there callous enough to run a house of horrors like this. It is just a shame that after our efforts in stopping this tenancy, the landlord has been left with little more than a slap on the wrist.’

Mr Jalaf had been charging tenants up to £340 a month to live in the dilapidated property in Thorngrove Road, Plaistow. It was continually under construction, with a tarpaulin roof, no ceiling in parts, holes in walls, no front windows on the first floor, bare circuitry and a bedroom erected in the fire escape gangway next to a live cooker.

* * * * *

Senior EHO James Dykes told EHN it was the worse house he had ever inspected. ‘Because of the weather conditions there was rain water on all the floors. There were puddles of water and bare wires exposed everywhere.’

Mr Dykes said at least 11 people were living in the house but there could have been more because some tenants fled when they arrived. ‘There was a guy sleeping between the cooker and the fridge underneath the boiler. There were three people sharing one room with no windows and no natural ventilation. It was massively overcrowded and really dangerous,’ he said.

The tenants, he added, did not know their rights and were too scared to contact the council. ‘They didn’t want any retaliation by the landlord because there was no tenancy in place. They could have been thrown out that day.’

An emergency prohibition order was served after Mr Jalaf failed to make any improvement to the property or respond to requests for information.

Mr Jalaf told the court he had been living at the house after separating from his wife at their family home in East Ham. He claimed only two people had been living at the property. He said: ‘Some other people came to sleep there. I couldn’t force them out because they said they were friends. I tried to get as much work done as I could.’

District Judge Gott took into account Mr Jalaf’s guilty plea but said he had potentially put his tenants’ lives at risk. He said it was one of the worst breaches of the regulations he had ever seen. ‘It is not just a question of the premises being unfit for human habitation, but people’s lives were potentially put at risk by you,’ he said.

Brb

I've lived somewhere similar - had 11 leaks in my bedroom ceiling Lynz. No dangerous electrics though. It was back when I was 17 (some 20 years ago).

Fun times LOL

red40

clutton wrote: »

Will Bristol City Council then have to start over with a brand new process of Compulsory Purchase if no new manager can be found - and if so, on what grounds will they act to purchase ?

Nope they will have to make an Interim Management Order (12 months) and decide in that time if they wish to take over the running of the property with a Final Management Order.

Ankatden

theartfullodger wrote: »

I have a pet theory, perhaps disproved by your reply, that those who moan & complain about things are often ignorant of the rules/law/regulations/best-practice/ways of doing things right.

Out of interest (I like to keep up to speed on Landlord matters also) what was the course [I might wish to benefit from DH's trailblazing..] & did DH pass, please??

Cheers!

Artful

Good for you and less of the sneering.

neverdespairgirl

theartfullodger wrote: »

- in which I found the wonderful word, "Tortious"

Wonderful in what way?

theartfullodger

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

Wonderful in what way?

Well, I tort it was...