A landlord is facing a bill totalling more than £12,000 for managing a portfolio of rental properties without appropriate licenses.
Ballpark Property Limited pleaded guilty to eight offences under the Housing Act 2004 at a hearing held at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court.
The city council brought the charges to court as the company had failed to obtain the appropriate property licences at eight of their properties.
Under Liverpool’s Selective Licensing regime, all privately rented properties within the designated wards must be licensed by law.
The council investigated Ballpark Property as the landlord had previously committed similar offences under Liverpool’s previous landlord licensing scheme, which ran from 2015 to 2020.
Despite attempts to engage with the company during the investigation, the council says it did not receive an adequate response and progressed with the prosecution.
In court, the company’s solicitors stated that the eight properties are now licensed under the current scheme but accepted that they had been managed without appropriate licences for a period and had a history of this offence.
The judge noted that the previous fine of £200 per property had failed to deter the company from committing this offence again and ordered them to pay £1,000 per property.
Together with costs and victim surcharge, the penalty totalled £12,606.
This article is taken from Landlord Today