A landlord has been ordered to pay a fine £1,344.57 after failing to install fixed heating to a property she was letting out to private tenants.

The landlord, in Hertfordshire, was served with an Improvement Notice under section 11 of The Housing Act 2004 to require the works to be carried out. After failing to complete the works in the required timeframe, the landlord was prosecuted by North Hertfordshire district council and fined. 

Stevenage magistrates imposed a fine of £500 and ordered her to pay further costs of a £50 victim surcharge and £794.57 towards the council‘s legal fees.

The landlord, Jane Cleverly, pleaded guilty to not taking adequate steps to provide a number of tenants who resided at her Hitchin flat with a fixed heating system. 

Her tenants who were left in the cold included a young couple who were renting their first home and a female who was trying to recuperate after having surgery. Cleverly cited ‘financial difficulty’ as the reason for her negligence.

“Landlords have a responsibility to keep their properties safe and free from health hazards and tenants have a right to live in a property that is safe and in a good state of repair” says a council spokesman.