Tenants lives put at risk by landlord in shared Hinckley house

A landlord has been fined thousands of pounds for putting the lives of his tenants at risk.

Housing officials prosecuted Nasir Bashir Ali for safety breaches linked to a shared house he owns in Druid Street, Hinckley.

He failed to meet conditions of the licence to run a house in multiple occupation (HMO) and admitted 10 offences when he appeared before Leicester Magistrates last week.

The offences admitted by Ali, of St Andrews Drive, Oadby, included failing to maintain a working fire alarm system and providing certification of its proper maintenance.

He was fined £2,780 for the offences and full costs of £1,961 were awarded to the prosecuting authority – Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council.

He was also ordered to pay victim surcharge of £170

The council’s private sector housing team became aware of the issues following a routine inspection of the licensed premises.

Magistrates were told officers visited the property and found the fire alarm system was not working properly, and the certification that had been issued by Ali’s own company, Assured Alarms, was invalid for both the fire alarm and emergency lighting systems.

Fire risk

Officers also identified defective fire doors, meaning if a fire had occurred there may have been an imminent risk to life.

In an effort to protect the tenants, the council promptly installed a temporary fire alarm system.

Ali also failed to provide proof of the corrections that had been made to the fire alarm system and fire doors, or satisfactory evidence of the testing of the fire alarm and emergency lighting systems.

The council’s executive member for housing and community safety councillor Michael Mullaney, said: “I’m glad this issue has been taken to court.

“Tenants should expect to live in a safe property and those landlords who leave tenants in unsafe properties should expect action to be taken.”

As well as bringing forward this prosecution, council officials are also making use of new powers to issue Civil Penalties of up to £30,000 for certain housing offences.