Loading Guild Resources
Loading Guild Resources
Loading Guild Resources
Landlords David and Joanne Fuller have been banned from letting homes for a total of nine years after losing an appeal against a council fed up with prosecuting them for breaking housing laws.
A judge at a First-Tier Property Tribunal handed a six year ban to Mr Fuller and a three year ban to his wife at a hearing earlier this year.
The couple, from Yeovil, Somerset, appealed but have had the case thrown out as their application to overturn the ban had no reasonable chance of success.
The Fullers manage 180 properties in and around Yeovil.
The banning orders stop them from letting, managing or having any other involvement with the properties that they own. They cannot employ any business or person associated with them to run these properties or take rent directly from tenants.
Landlords Faqrudin Musa Vali and Tasneem Intiaz Valli tried to fool a council that their tenants were related to each other to avoid paying for a house in multiple occupation (HMO) licence.
A First-Tier Property Tribunal heard their ploy failed to convince Newham Council, East London, that the house was a single tenancy and not in multiple occupation. The couple paid the selective licence fee for the property to the council but tried to dodge the more expensive HMO licence charge.
But Judge Robert Latham argued the tenants' identity documents clearly showed they were not related and the house was shared, not a single tenancy.
"The only inference that the tribunal can draw is that the respondents have fabricated this version of events because they knew that they were in breach of the law," said the judge.
"The respondents recognised that they could secure a higher rent by letting the house to four young professionals than by letting it to a family. However, they were not willing to pay the additional costs that would arise were they to register it as an HMO."
The couple were ordered to pay a rent repayment order of £17,640 and costs of £330.
Magistrates ordered landlord Tariq Mahmood Khan to pay £2,900 in fines and costs for repeatedly renting out an overcrowded home riddled with health and safety problems.
The Peterborough court heard that in September 2024, the council's housing standards team found a couple with three young children living at the property. The home was in a poor condition with inadequate lighting, ventilation and fire safety measures, while it was also too small to be reasonably occupied by a tenant.
The council served Khan with a prohibition order in September 2016. The property was empty for a while, but was then let again, resulting in the first prosecution.
Khan denied the latest charge but was found guilty. He was fined £1,000, ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £400 and the council's costs of £1,500.