An estate agency has been prosecuted and ordered to pay £35,000 for falling foul of property licensing rules.

Green House Estate Agents Ltd, of Edmonton in north London, failed to obtain licences for three residential properties, and did not provide information to Enfield council, contravening the Housing Act 2004.

All three properties were required to be licensed under the council’s selective licensing regime. Selective licensing applies to all privately rented residential properties occupied by one or two persons, or one family households in 14 areas of the borough.

At Highbury Corner Magistrates Court, Green House Estate Agents Ltd, was also ordered to pay costs totalling £2,348. A surcharge of £2,000 was also imposed in each prosecution.

Council officers investigated Green House Estate Agents Ltd for letting three properties without a licence.

The officers discovered disrepair at the properties including fire safety deficiencies, damp and a general lack of management.

Green House Estate Agents Ltd was convicted for managing and having control of the three private rented properties without a licence on 24 November 2022 and did not attend the sentencing hearing last week. 

A council spokeswoman says: “There are many law-abiding landlords in the private rented sector in the borough, and the council is here to help and advise them to ensure their properties reach the required standards and are properly licensed.

“Unfortunately, there are also landlords who break the law by not obtaining the legally required licence to let their properties. The council’s successful prosecution of Green House Estates should be a wake up call to all unscrupulous landlords who do not comply with the law.”