Landlord Varinder Jit Gill has been fined £2,000 and ordered to pay more than £1,000 in costs after he failed to co-operate with the London Borough of Hounslow during a routine housing investigation.
Gill was asked on numerous occasions to explain his interest in a property in Bedfont Lane, Feltham, but several polite requests and legal notices demanding information went unanswered.
Housing officers were investigating whether a property owned by Gill was a shared house - a house in multiple occupation (HMO) - following a complaint. Having a licence for an HMO is a legal requirement.
Encouraging and enforcing a well regulated, professional and high quality private rented sector is an aim of Hounslow Council's Private Sector Housing Strategy 2006-10, and also an objective of the Hounslow Plan, Hounslow Council's vision of development and improvement for the borough.
Cr Phil Andrews, Hounslow Council's lead member for housing and community safety, said: “The Council works very hard to make landlords aware of their responsibilities to their tenants by sending out information and holding events.
“We want to have a good relationship with landlords in Hounslow and with the vast majority this is true, but where there is a blanket refusal to co-operate with a simple request that relates to tenants' health and safety, we will use every means possible, including legal measures, to achieve that. This prosecution will send out a clear message. Work with us, or face the consequences. For Mr Gill, this is certainly not an end to this matter.”
A complaint suggesting the property was in multiple occupation was received by the Council on 25 October 2007. Messages were left for the landlord, and a later Land Registry check revealed Gill owned the property.
But by February 2008, he had still not returned the Council's correspondence, including legal notices.
On July 18, at Brentford Magistrates' Court, Gill was prosecuted under Section 16(2) of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976, which was proved in his absence. He was fined £2,000, and ordered to pay costs to the London Borough of Hounslow of £1,121 and a £15 victim surcharge.
