Mehrban Haq, of Rawstrone Street, Blackburn, was convicted following a trial last July for failing to show that he had exercised a proper ‘Duty of Care’ regarding rubbish produced at one of his properties and found dumped in a back street.
Blackburn magistrates heard a member of the public witnessed a man dumping rubbish in the alley at Stansfeld Street, Blackburn. An investigation was launched and the rubbish was traced to a property in Coleridge Street, Blackburn, which was owned by Haq.
He was fined him 500 pounds and ordered him to pay 2,671 pounds in costs.
Haq appealed against his conviction at Preston Crown Court but the judge upheld the case, stating that he was under a duty to provide transfer documents for waste removed from the property.
Even though he was a landlord who rented out the property, it did not fall under the exemption of an occupier of a domestic property.
Councillor Alan Cottam, executive member of regeneration and environment, said: “We are pleased that the crown court has agreed with us that landlords need to take their responsibility seriously. This is an ongoing problem and I hope this case sends a clear message to landlords who think it is ok to dump rubbish in the back streets when tenants move out, instead of paying for removal.”
* The death of a woman who died in the fire at the home she rented from a local fire officer is being treated as a tragic accident.
Staffordshire Police have said there do not appear to be any suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of the pensioner at the flat situated above a shop in Rugeley.
The Sunday Mercury newspaper reported that her landlord was Alistair Judkins, a watch commander with the Newcastle-under-Lyme fire service.
A fire crew went to the flat when a passerby dialled 999 after seeing smoke coming from the property on Friday.
Fire officers wearing breathing apparatus forced entry and found the body of Barbara Smith in the living room of the flat she had lived in for more than 20 years.
The fatality comes at the same time the Staffordshire fire service is encouraging elderly people to have a home safety check to avoid such tragedies.
* Residential Landlords in Norwich have helped the City Council exceed its target to add 1,000 extra homes to the city’s affordable housing stock earlier than expected.
In a bid to meet the ever increasing demand on waiting lists, the council set itself the challenge of getting 1,000 new affordable homes in Norwich between April 2006 and April 2009.
Part of the solution was to introduce a private sector leasing scheme which saw 226 privately owned homes added to the affordable housing stock.
Under the scheme a landlord leases their property to the council for a period of four years. The council then places people from the waiting lists into these properties. The council guarantees to pay the rent to the landlord whether it is let or not and to return the property back to the landlord in the state it was leased, less wear and tear.
This scheme has proved a very useful tool, not only to help ease waiting lists but also as a source of income for landlords and to help make sure properties aren’t standing empty.
More essential landlord information can be found at Residentiallandlord.co.uk. Featuring the latest requirements for energy performance certificates and many other useful tools including; free document downloads, latest buy to let mortgages and rates, property auction dates and much more besides.
[tags]landlord, landlords, buy to let, rental property, property investments[/tags]
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