Peter Hall, a pensioner landlord who admitted that he had failed to comply with housing safety laws, has been ordered to pay over £10,000 in fines.
Mr Hall, 76, from Bury in Greater Manchester, owned a block of nine flats in St Anne’s.
The building was four-storeys tall and housed multiple people living as separate families, meaning that it required a HMO (House in Multiple Occupation) licence.
However, housing officers from Fylde Council conducted an inspection of Mr Hall’s property and discovered that he did not have the necessary HMO licence in place.
He also failed to provide an electrical safety certificate when the officers went to make safety checks in January 2014.
When the council carried out further inspections – in April 2014 and in October 2014 – the landlord was found to have ignored previous warnings regarding the requirement for a HMO licence and electrical certificate.
Mr Hall pleaded guilty at Blackpool Magistrates’ Court last week and was served with a fine of £5,000 for failing to licence the property.
An additional £1,000 fine was given for his failure to provide an electrical safety certificate.
Mr Hall, who has since sold the block of flats at the centre of the case, was also ordered to pay a £120 victim surcharge as well as £4,500 costs.
Tom Birtwistle, Fylde Council’s senior environmental health officer, said: “Housing legislation exists to ensure that tenants are safe and have proper standards of housing.
“It must be complied with.
“We gave Mr Hall repeated opportunities to comply but he repeatedly failed to do so.”