A shocking case of a buy to let HMO that did not even have a working smoke detector has led to the owner of the property being fined £17,000 and being ordered to pay costs in excess of £10,000.

The property was in Watford where owner Mohammed Khaliq, from Slough, housed 10 people in what the council calls “very poor conditions.”

Khaliq failed to licence the property and breached regulations by operating a HMO that was unsafe, in a poor state of repair and dirty. 

The property did not have adequate fire safety arrangements – there was not even a single working smoke detector – while the kitchen was dirty and in poor condition, there was inadequate drainage to a shower, and the garden was full of rubbish.

The case has gone to court where evidence has been provided by a police officer, two environmental health officers and one of the previous tenants.

The judge found Khaliq guilty of all charges and in summing up said that all four witnesses gave clear, credible and helpful evidence. 

She issued a fine of £17,000, a victim surcharge of £181 and ordered full costs of £10,488.62 to be paid to the council, totalling £27,669.62.