A landlord was ordered to pay over £1,300 after Stafford Magistrates’ Court heard that the house he let out demonstrated multiple breaches of health and safety legislation and posed a real threat to his tenants’ health.
The court heard that Mr David Corry allowed two tenants to rent a property he was responsible for on the Highfield’s estate in Stafford.
However, the property in question was not fitted out with smoke alarms, had no handrail on the staircase, and the front door was also unfit for purpose.
The court heard that the council contacted Mr Corry because of the house’s condition, but he failed to provide the information he had a legal obligation to supply as the landlord.
Mr Corry pleaded guilty, by post, to two charges connected with his failure to provide information to the local authority last year, and he was fined £400 for each charge.
He was also ordered to pay over £536 in costs and a victim surcharge of £40.
In a letter read to the court, Mr Corry stated that the house would be put up for sale because he could not afford to maintain it at the standard required for tenants, which was why the property was also to remain unoccupied until the sale.
Julie Simpson, for the prosecution, said: “An inspection of the property by an environmental health officer confirmed that it was not well managed or maintained in a reasonable condition.”