There is a common perception that rental and property management is quite straight forward. On a lot of occasions it can be, however, as a landlord, you and the managing agent you employ are likely to face at least one unforeseen event involving one of your tenants at some stage. If not dealt with properly, you can face large fines (£1,000 - £10,000+), a caution from the police or even a prison sentence.
See one example below, this is an article I read in the 'Landlord Buy-to-Let Magazine' (Issue 35, page 20):
"Three landlords have been successfully prosecuted by Birmingham City Council following their failure to maintain a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO).
The council started legal proceedings against Abdul Jabber, the owner, his wife, Azrah Begum, and the owner's brother, Gul Bahar, citing three breaches on the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation. They were prosecuted for 'Flagrant, and dangerous, breaches of legislation' following a fire that occurred at the property in the early hours of 27th October 2011. The fire service was called upon to rescue people from inside the building.
Following the fire, officers from Birmingham City Council inspected the property and found that the property had not been sufficiently maintained e.g. several smoke detectors were still covered in their original wrappings.
On 29th August 2012 all three defendants pleaded guilty at Birmingham Magistrates' Court and were fined a total of £3,000 for the offences, a victim surcharge of £15 each, and were ordered to pay the City Council costs totalling £3,814.
The council has issued over 1700 orders since April 2006, ensuring that management standards and housing conditions in the private rented sector are maintained, and demonstrating that there are many landlords in Birmingham who comply with the specified regulations".
Have you ever moved 3 individual sharers in to a property? You may or may not know this, but you have created an HMO. The definition of an HMO is 'A house which is occupied by three of more unrelated persons, who do not
form a single household'. This even includes a 'couple' (not married) and a single house mate. By doing this there are several regulations that you must comply with such as supplying certain size fire doors, fire extinguishers, fire blankets, wired in smoke alarms etc. There are two different types of HMO (Licensed and unlicensed), both of which have different regulations.
If Abdul Jabber and his family had employed a professional and licensed agent like Belvoir they would have been informed of their obligations as landlord...................
More stories like this to come.
