A letting agency that failed to apply for House of Multiple Occupation licences at three properties in Birmingham has been fined £8,000. 

Ultrabarn failed to apply for licences for three properties in Erdington and Sutton Coldfield. The company was fined £1,500 for each of the three offences, plus £500 each for seven breaches of HMO management regulations. They were also ordered to pay full costs of £2,631 and a victim surcharge of £120.

At one property the letting company failed to ensure the means of escape from fire was maintained, and there were holes in the ceiling around service pipes. It also failed to ensure firefighting equipment and fire alarms were in good working order.

At another property there was a similar breach of HMO regulations regarding means of escape from fire; additionally there was no fire blanket in the communal kitchen, no smoke detectors where required in communal areas, and insanitary conditions and inadequate provision for the disposal of rubbish.

A council spokesman says: “Ultrabarn is an experienced and well-known letting company in this part of Birmingham and really should be setting an example; instead they fell well below standards we expect of the private rented sector.”