Letting agent fined due to lack of licence
A letting agent has been fined £3,500 and had to pay £1,500 in costs after failing to register a shared student house.
The letting agent in Hyde Park is the first in the city to have been fined due to not registering a house as Multiple Occupation (HMO) as seven students live it in.
All Bedsits and shared housing that has more than four tenants living in it must have a HMO license under the Housing Act 2004, which sets the standards for fire and amenity safety.
An Executive Board Member for housing at Leeds City Council commented that the letting agents, an experience company, should have known better. He also said “ This ruling should send a clear message to landlords that we will take legal action against those who have not applied.”
Since the law came in to effect in 2006 for HMO licences, Leeds city council alone has received over 2.600 applications.
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May 11th 2009