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[07 APR 00] COVENTRY CITY COUNCIL NEWS
Landlord Fined For Filthy House
BY ANTONY HOPKER

A Coventry landlord has been fined £11,000 after allowing one of the biggest rented houses in the city to get into a filthy and dangerous state.

Jaspal Enterprises Ltd was given the fine after pleading guilty to six breaches of Housing Regulations at the house in Stoney Stanton Road.

Coventry magistrates heard of a catalogue of shocking discoveries by Environmental Health Officers in July 1999 including broken communal toilets and a filthy communal kitchen.

There were holes and rust in the metal fire escape and lightbulbs missing in the fire escape route, leaving it in darkness. Fire alarm sounders were also found to be hanging off the wall.

The court heard that the house was one of the largest in the city to rent as it can hold up to 20 people.

It is the first time that officers in the city have used the regulations to bring a landlord to court.

Normally they serve a notice on the offender ordering them to make improvements, but a repeat visit in October revealed that nothing had changed.

The rules are designed to protect people living in large privately-rented houses in the city. Around 1,500 properties fall into this category.

Principal Environmental Health Officer Wendy Rollings said that the rules only applied to houses where rooms were let to people who had nothing to do with the other residents.

She said:

“A house shared by students wouldn’t come under this legislation if they all moved in together, and shared some of the tasks and paid the bills.

“The main concern is from a point of view of fire safety. If there was a fire would the people in the house know if anyone else was in there.

“The people who live in these kinds of houses tend to be more vulnerable.

“Normally we just serve an order but the landlord did not co-operate with us, so the decision to prosecute in this way was taken.

“The conditions were disgusting and it looked as if the kitchen hadn’t been cleaned for several months. A lot of the residents bought ready to eat food because a lot of the equipment didn’t work.”

She added that routine inspections were carried out at similar properties, but this investigation was launched following a complaint.

The court heard that Jaspal Enterprises Ltd has since ceased trading. But magistrates decided to impose the fine regardless and awarded the city council £688 costs.
 
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