A landlord who asked his tenants to only shower once a week, limit cooking to light meals and who joked about evaading licensing has been landed with a £17,574 Rent Repayment Order.
David Shiuh Lin Chou faced a First Tier Property Tribunal after he failed to licence his four-bed HMO under Camden’s additional scheme.
His three tenants said he had suggested he was trying to evade the cost of an HMO licence and to say they were part of his wider family in order to avoid licensing. One told the tribunal he was evicted because he raised the licensing issue.
Chou asked them to take a maximum of one shower and to do laundry only once a week to keep the utility bills low, but they refused. They said the flat had no internal fire doors, fire alarm system, emergency exit lighting, or firefighting equipment except a fire blanket hidden in a cupboard, while there was also long-term mould in the bathroom.
The landlord said he was unaware that licensing was necessary but admitted joking about avoiding it. As a family member sometimes stayed in the fourth bedroom, he argued that the property was a family home.
Chou said the rent was below market rent and considered he had behaved in a generous way. Chou also tried to argue that it was not the main residence of one of his tenants, and insisted a visit by Camden housing officers resulted in him being cleared of HMO breaches.
The judge ruled that the property in Grafton Mansions, Dukes Road (main image), was the main or only residence of each tenant and that Chou was confused by Camden’s communications.
He found beyond reasonable doubt that the offence had been committed and added: “The respondent was aware of the need for licensing but sought to avoid the cost and the impact on his property.”
The tenants were awarded 60% of the amount claimed under the rent repayment order.
Read the decision in full. Photo credit - Google Streetview
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