COVENTRY City Council has said it will not appeal a tribunal’s decision to slash a punitive fine it levied on a Coventry student landlord.
As reported in the Coventry Observer, the landlord of a multiple occupation house in Canley, Tan Sandhu, appealed against a council fine of £31,499 for breaching housing rules.
The tribunal ruled the council had overcharged him by over £28,000 by misusing national guidelines – and that the fines were unreasonably disproportionate to the offences.
It prompted further concerns that councils are using fines against the public to prop up their dwindling finances.
A succession of other tribunal rulings has heavily criticised the way Coventry council fines motorists for parking and bus lane/bus gate infringements, despite signs being ‘inadequate’.
The council responded to our further questions by saying it will not appeal the decision concerning Mr Sandhu.
A spokesperson for the City Council said: “The council assessed the penalty levels for the breaches of the regulations in line with its policy and the guidance provided by Government and decided that the level relating to Regulation 4 reflected the seriousness associated with the offence.
“The First Tier Tribunal took into account other factors within the guidance to amend the penalty levels, which the council has accepted. The council will, therefore, not be appealing the decision.”
The council had started a campaign with the University of Warwick to inspect student houses around the university campus.
After inspecting Mr Sandhu’s property on Walsall Street, Canley, inspectors found he had breached regulations in failing to display his contact details and a rear door frame was insecure.
On the fire-safety font, the smoke / heat detector in the kitchen had been removed and no fire blanket had been provided.
Mr Sandhu admitted breaching fire safety rules.
At the time of the investigation, Mr Sandhu said he was a self-employed estate agent who was on reduced income as he cared for his sick wife.
Phil Turtle, a compliance consultant with Landlord Licensing and Defence, said: “While we cannot condone a landlord not knowing and or failing to comply with the HMO management regulations, this case is a clear example of a council mis-applying the legislation for their own purposes.
“Coventry City Council had originally tried to extract £31,499 from this landlord when in fact, as the tribunal determined, they were only entitled to fine the landlord a total of £3,300. An attempted over-charge of £28,199.”
