A landlord must pay almost £1,000 after leaving his tenant without heating last winter.
Vivender Nath Blaggan, 47, of Stockton, allegedly left a rental property in the town with a faulty boiler for three months during the coldest part of the year.
He has pleaded guilty to failing to comply with an abatement notice issued under section 80 the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and has been fined £350. In addition he must pay costs of £609.17p and a victim surcharge of £35.
Stockton Council says it was contacted by a tenant at Blaggan's property in January 2014 after repeatedly asking the landlord to repair the heating, which had failed in November.
A council inspection of the property confirmed there was a problem with the gas boiler and led to the serving of the Section 80 notice. However, Blaggan failed to comply.
In mitigation Blaggan said that he had provided the tenant with a fan heater and offered to pay for the extra electricity it would use; he also claims some repairs were conducted on the boiler but these only lasted for one week before the problem recurred.
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Comments
Oh Look theres another one
A victim surcharge of just 35! Wow, that's really adequate compensation, isn't it And a fine that doesn't even reach 1,000 for gross negligence - because that's what leaving a tenant without heating for 3 months during winter is - doesn't seem like much of a deterrent. Should have been much higher.
so the tenant puts up with no heating for 3 months (and likely continuing to pay rent) and gets the grand total of 35 what a kick in the teeth
This is so frustrating. Once again, the actions of a few incompetent and idiotic landlords tar the whole industry with the same negative brush. In this case, it beggars belief that the guy thought he could get away with it. Leaving a property without heating during winter - seriously, what was he thinking Moronic doesn't really cover it.
It's people like this "Landlord" that give our industry a bad name and keep it in the media spotlight. Should have been fined more in my opinion.