Kent landlord Fayez Noor has been ordered to pay a penalty of £12,500 by a Tribunal after he was found to be running a House of Multiple Occupation (HMO) without a licence.
Noor runs the Indian Diner restaurant in Ashford and the flats above the restaurant have been described as “an ongoing concern” to Ashford council for many years. Access was first gained in September 2020 after a complaint from a tenant was received, but the team were unable to gain access to all rooms.
In January 2024 a council officer was invited by Immigration Enforcement to attend an unannounced visit at the Indian Diner restaurant and the flats above. During the visit she noted all bedrooms appeared occupied, however doors were locked and she could not gain access to all rooms.
Based on the evidence, the officer was satisfied that the property was occupied as an HMO of more than five individuals, meaning that an HMO licence was required. The council applied to a court requesting a warrant to gain entry to the property so that all rooms could be inspected, and in June 2024 the warrant was granted.
The council organised a joint inspection with South East Immigration Enforcement, Kent Police and a locksmith in July 2024. Using the warrant, they gained access to all bedrooms and communal spaces at the property. All 11 bedrooms were occupied and 13 individuals noted, including one person sleeping in the restaurant seating area on the ground floor.
This inspection confirmed the property was occupied as an unlicenced HMO and a Financial Penalty Notice for £10,000 was served on the owner, as well as an Improvement Notice for urgent works required to the property. The owner evicted the tenants and began complying with the Notice.
The penalty was not paid and the owner applied to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal. In April 2025 the owner missed the date to appeal and requested an application to reinstate the appeal.
In May 2025 the First-Tier Tribunal refused the application to reinstate the appeal. The owner then appealed to the Upper Tribunal and the hearing was held virtually in August.
Last month, the Upper Tribunal upheld the Financial Penalty Notice issued by the council and imposed a higher penalty on Noor of £12,500 under s249A of the Housing Act 2004, for an offence under s72(2). The penalty must be paid within 28 days.
The Upper Tribunal considered Noor’s culpability to be high, with either actual foresight of, or wilful blindness to, the risk of offending but a willingness to take that risk.
It also found the risk of harm to the tenants and other occupiers of the HMO to be high or very high. Although the council had set the penalty at £10,000, the Upper Tribunal was satisfied that the penalty should be set at the maximum for that band in the sum of £12,500.
The Upper Tribunal said it was satisfied that such a penalty is proportionate in all the circumstances.
This article is taken from Landlord Today