Over £25,000 fine for property management firm boss

The head of a property management company has been fined £25,800 after serious safety issues were discovered at a shared house in Northampton.

During an inspection of a property by West Northamptonshire council in May 2022 the electrical meter was found to have been tampered with, seriously endangering the safety of the four people living there. 

The council instructed an electrician to attend the property to carry out emergency work to make the property safe.

Along with the unsafe electrics, a number of fire safety breaches were identified, including poorly maintained fire doors and missing smoke alarms.

In December 2022, the council fined Zivile Aksinaviciene of J&KO Property Ltd £25,000 for breaching license conditions for a house in multiple occupation. 

She had three months to appeal against the decision; this period has now passed.

Anyone engaging in lettings or property management work must also belong to a property redress scheme which gives tenants the opportunity to seek independent help if their landlord or managing agent is ignoring their concerns. Aksinaviciene was not part of such a scheme, so was fined an additional £800.

Since the offences were committed the property has been taken back by its owner and turned into a single-family house.

“From some of the images captured at this address, it is clear the licensee had little regard for the safety of their tenants” says a council spokesperson.