Fine for owner of "very poor" unlicensed and rotting apartment

A landlord has been ordered to pay more than £4,200 in fines and costs for not having a licence for his property which has been described as being in “very poor condition” with rotting floorboards.

Saleem Nazir, a Bristol landlord, was renting the ground floor of his property in the city as commercial accommodation and the first floor as residential.

The city council had been in discussions with Nazir since 2015 encouraging him to make the application for the licence, but although an application was received he failed to pay the correct fee.

A visit to the property in January 2016 revealed very poor conditions in the flat, including a leak which caused the floor boards to rot.

The toilet had also sunk through the floor causing the pan to become disconnected from the soil pipe. This meant the tenants had no access to a useable toilet. Nazir was asked to make the necessary repairs but failed to do so resulting in the council having to do the work.

At a trial this month, Nazir insisted his brother was responsible for letting the flat and that he had not received any of the papers requesting information to be provided to the council. 

However the magistrates decided his evidence was “not credible” and that he was the owner and should have made the application. He was found guilty on all counts.