The owner of a buy to let HMO has been found guilty of six offences but has received a fine of just £600.

Flintshire county council’s officers inspected the HMO in Shotton last July and found there to be no working fire alarms, no fire doors, defective electrics and inadequate bathroom amenities. 

The landlord – Glyn Roberts – subsequently ignored requests made under the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Wales) Regulations 2006 to produce gas and electrical testing certificates.

An Improvement Notice was served but a subsequent inspection found that this had not been complied with and that the gas boiler had been condemned for safety reasons.

Now Roberts has pleaded guilty to all six offences; in mitigation it was heard that he was in financial difficulties and was expecting to complete a sale on the property within the next six weeks and would then no longer be a landlord.

Roberts was found guilty of all offences and was fined £600, and ordered to pay a contribution of £200 to the council’s costs.