Editor's note: This brief was summarised by The Property AI Newsroom from a report by Property118. Read the original article for full details.
County Durham Landlord Fined £42,500 for Licensing Breaches
A County Durham landlord has been fined £42,500 after being prosecuted for 13 breaches of selective licence conditions across eight rental properties. The case involved Carter Property Services, which manages around 300 rental properties in the area.
Durham County Council brought the prosecution after identifying multiple breaches, including overdue gas safety certificates and a lack of property inspections. The company was fined £40,000, ordered to pay £500 in costs, and charged a £2,000 victim surcharge.
One property in Peterlee was highlighted in the council's account, where paramedics reportedly found three adults sleeping on the floor among accumulated waste, dead rats and mice, with the house described as caked in faeces and urine and having a strong smell of ammonia. According to the council, the property had not been inspected for two years and its gas safety certificate was almost four years overdue. Another tenant reported that no inspection had taken place during the four years they had lived at their property. The company was also said to have failed to provide valid gas safety certificates for four of the eight homes involved.
The prosecution was based on failures to comply with licensing conditions, not for directly causing the poor living conditions. The article notes that an annual gas safety check is a legal requirement and that landlords accepting a selective licence must comply with its conditions. The publicly available account does not specify who was responsible for the accumulation of waste or the development of the squalid conditions, nor does it clarify whether the tenants reported the issues or prevented access for inspections.
Government guidance states that tenants should allow reasonable access for inspections and repairs, take care of the property, and repair or pay for damage they cause. Landlords are responsible for the structure, installations, statutory safety checks, and necessary repairs, as well as inspecting properties at reasonable intervals and responding to warning signs.
Source: Property118