South Norwood landlord to pay £18,500 fine after eight people found living in unlicensed house

A landlord from South Norwood has been fined £18,500 for renting an unlicensed property in Herne Hill to eight people.

Fernando Brown, known as Fred, was found to have been operating an unlicensed House in Multiple Occupancy (HMO) in Fawnbrake Avenue with eight tenants living in the six-bedroom property.

The tenants said Mr Brown would often collect rent money in person and always in cash.

They also revealed Mr Brown often failed to provide rent receipts, had no written tenancy agreement with any of the occupants and did not protect their deposits as required by law.

An investigation by Lambeth Council’s Environmental Health Team found Mr Brown committed a breach of the Housing Act 2004 by failing to register as an HMO.

A HMO licence costs £1,674 for five years.

An inspection in October 2019 found eight people living in the house and a further inspection in February 2020 found the situation unchanged.

A Notice of Intent to Issue a Civil Penalty Notice was sent to Mr Brown on March 2, 2020 along with a proposed penalty fine of £24,999.

Mr Brown appealed the fine to the first-tier tribunal property chamber which heard the case last month.

The tribunal upheld the original decision but the financial penalty was reduced after mitigation from Mr Brown’s legal representatives.

During the tribunal Mr Brown gave evidence and claimed he had signed a tenancy agreement with three people in 2015 and thought they still lived at the property.

He claimed to have been misled and applied for possession of the property when he found out there were eight tenants, and none were on the 2015 agreement.

He also claimed anyone else seen at the property during his visits could have been “tenants, guests or squatters” and did not question them.

It was accepted by all parties that the property was not licensed as an HMO, the tribunal heard.

Cllr Maria Kay, Lambeth Cabinet member for Housing and Homelessness, said: “Unscrupulous landlords who put profit ahead of their tenants’ safety and wellbeing will not be tolerated in our borough. 

“I am pleased that the tribunal recognised the gravity of the breach Mr Brown committed and agreed his actions were serious enough to warrant a substantial penalty.

“It is important to recognise the tireless work of the council’s teams in ensuring this was uncovered. “This case shows that Lambeth Council takes unlicensed HMOs very seriously and will pursue those in breach to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all our residents.”