Two landlords who failed to carry out vital repairs on their property, despite it causing a significant risk to the health of the elderly tenant, have been fined following a successful prosecution by Amber Valley Borough Council.
Chane Lynden Knight and Joanne Teresa Knight of Kilbourne Road, Belper originally pleaded not guilty to failing to comply with an Improvement Notice served by Amber Valley Borough Council on 5 February 2007. However, following trial yesterday at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court they were both found guilty and ordered to pay a fine of £2,000 each, a victims' surcharge of £15 each and costs of £1655.21.
Amber Valley Borough Council’s Environmental Health Department received a complaint from the elderly tenant of 23 Upper Hartshay, Heage on 1 January 2007, alleging that the property was suffering from serious disrepair.
Following an inspection on 4 January, the Council’s Housing Standards Officer identified a number of hazards that were posing a risk of serious harm to the occupant of the property. These included an ineffective heating system, damp and poor insulation and a leaking roof that was compromising electrical safety.
David Arkle, Housing Manager at Amber Valley Borough Council said, “We served Notice under the Housing Act 2004, requiring the defendants to carry out remedial action by 4 May 2007. Our Housing Standards Officer visited the property on six subsequent occasions between April and December 2007. On each occasion he observed that the Notice had not been complied with and that the condition of the property still posed a risk of serious harm to the tenant.
“We therefore made the decision to bring this prosecution in order to safeguard the welfare of the tenant. We are now allowing the defendants a short period of time to complete the work outlined in the Notice. If they fail to do this, the Council will carry out the work in default, and then recover the cost from the defendants and / or initiate another prosecution.
“Landlords need to be aware that they have an obligation to maintain any properties they let and carry out any repairs as and when they arise. If the health of the tenant is being put at risk as a result of the landlord not carrying out these repairs then we will take action. We will always seek to work with the landlord, however we will have no hesitation in prosecuting them if work is not completed to a satisfactory standard. Fortunately, cases such as this are very much the exception in Amber Valley.”
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For more information please contact Lisa Garnham, PR and Communications Manager at Amber Valley Borough Council, on 01773 841655
Notes to editors:
Amber Valley Borough Council’s Environmental Health Department first received a complaint from the tenant of 23 Upper Hartshay, Heage on 3 February 2005, alleging that the property was suffering from serious disrepair.
Following inspection by the Council’s Housing Standards Officer a Notice under the Housing Act 1985 was served on the owner of the property at that time. We were subsequently informed that the property was in the process of being sold to the defendants, and an extension of one month was granted to enable them to comply. It was understood that the defendants had commenced the repair works and no further action was taken until the tenant made a further complaint on 1 January 2007.
The inspection on 4 January 2007 was conducted using the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, which is an evidence-based system, introduced by the Housing Act 2004, for assessing housing conditions.
The charges against the defendants were that between 5 May 2007 and 8 October 2007 Chane Lynden Knight and Joanne Teresa Knight failed to comply with an Improvement Notice which had become operative on 5 February 2007 served by Amber Valley Borough Council pursuant to section 11 of the Housing Act 2004 in that as the persons having control of 23 Upper Hartshay, Heage, Derbyshire, DE56 2HW they did fail before 4 May 2007 to complete the remedial action specified in schedule 1 of the said Notice, contrary to section 30 of the Housing Act 2004.
