Rental firm’s big fine for repair failures on five storey block

The company which owned and was responsible for a five-storey block of rented flats in Bridlington has been ordered to pay a total of £12,377 for failing to ensure it was safe for its private tenants.

London-based Gedulah Ltd bought the property in 2021 and employed a management company based in Manchester.

However, it failed to undertake basic repairs or put in place adequate management arrangements to ensure the property was safe.

East Riding of Yorkshire council found the property had inadequate heating and insulation, damp and mould, unrestricted low-level opening windows, a faulty fire alarm and lack of door locks to the main entrance. 

Some of the flats were rented by families with children, and the hazards represented a danger, especially to the younger children.

The council served Gedulah Ltd with two improvement notices under the Housing Act 2004 but the company failed to comply, so the council began prosecution proceedings.

Gedulah Ltd did not attend Beverley Magistrates Court this month but pleaded guilty by email to two counts of failing to comply with the improvement notices. It was ordered to pay a total of £12,377, comprising a fine of £4,000 for each improvement notice, costs of £2,377 and a victim surcharge of £2,000.

Earlier this year, the council brought a prosecution against national social landlord My Space Housing Solutions after it continued to rent out a property in Bridlington with broken and inadequate heating, leaving tenants exposed to excess cold hazards.

Legal notices were served on My Space, but the company failed to complete the works and instead rented the property out again.

Appearing at Beverley Magistrates Court on 26 April, My Space Housing Solutions pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to comply with improvement notices served under the Housing Act 2004.

The company was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,553.70 and a victim surcharge of £1,200.

Chris Dunnachie, private sector housing manager at East Riding of Yorkshire council, says: "In both cases, officers have tried to work with each landlord to rectify the dangerous hazards in their rental properties; but their advice and then legal notices have been ignored. The council does, and will continue to, take robust action when the safety of tenants is put at risk due to serious hazards from the properties they are living in".