Safe as houses: landlord fined thousands

A landlord in Liverpool has been fined a whopping £10 000 for failing to provide adequate standard of accommodation for students.

Michael Hiett, who leased the property, pleaded guilty at Liverpool Magistrates Court and was fined £500 for eight separate safety breaches, £6000 for failing to have a licence and a further £825 for legal costs.

The safety violations were for offences such as lacking adequate gas certificates and having doors which posed a hazard in the case of a fire.

Typical student home comforts

The house in question was on Brookdale Road, off Smithdown Road, in the heart of student living.

To many students, squalid hovels become cosy homes over the course of a year, but to legal officials the “potential for harm was serious” in this property.

The Council sees this case as a chance to get a message out to the negligent landlords across the city.

The cabinet member for housing in the council, Ann O’Byrne, promises retribution for those who flounced the law, stating that landlords should “ensure the property they rent out is safe […] the council will take all the steps necessary to bring those who don’t to justice.”

Terrible housing is no stranger to Liverpool students, with Accommod8 causing a furore last year with a blizzard of complaints against them.

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