A lettings agency which rented out overcrowded, unlicensed HMOs has been sentenced by a Crown Court.

The unnamed agency managed a large number of homes in Portsmouth on a rent-to-rent basis. This means the owner of the homes does not get involved with letting the property and allows the agency to do this on their behalf.

Officers at Portsmouth council suspected the homes weren’t licenced correctly and that they were overcrowded. 

When attempting to visit the homes, they were refused access by tenants, who had been told by the agency not to allow the officers access.

This led the council to seek warrants from the magistrate’s court, forcing access to gain entry. When the officers confirmed the properties were unlicensed HMOs, the director of the agency proceeded to harass the tenants seeking their eviction without proper process.

The director of the letting agency pleaded guilty to multiple indictments under the Protection of Eviction Act 1977 as well as managing unlicensed Houses in Multiple Occupation, and failure to comply with Houses in Multiple Occupation Management Regulations.

For the harassment and eviction offences, the director was sentenced to 200 hours of community service and told to pay £114 victim surcharge.

The agency was fined £1,000 and told to pay costs of over £9,000 to the Council.

For the offences relating to the properties being unlicensed, the director was personally ordered to pay £19,150 and the agency was ordered to pay £5,750.

In sentencing, the judge commented: “You were in a position of power, you held the keys to the roof over their head, they were vulnerable and didn’t know their rights…officers from the local authority were perfectly entitled to enter the property to ensure the occupants’ welfare, something you as a landlord should also have been doing.”

The homes are now being let and managed directly by the owners, and the tenants have been awarded the equivalent to two months’ rent as compensation.

A spokesperson for the council says:  “The council will continue to prosecute rogue landlords and agents, who break HMO rules, to protect tenants and neighbours alike. Homes that aren’t correctly licensed or overcrowded will be found out, and we will use the full force of the law.”