A landlord who claimed he didn’t know his property was being let as an HMO – despite occasionally sleeping there – has failed to have a £20,803 fine overturned.

Jerathinam Jeshree told a First Tier Property Tribunal that he had signed a five-year agreement with Ecolet Development Projects Ltd in 2023 at a fixed rent of £2,400 per month meaning that the firm effectively sublet the property – a seven-bedroom house with two kitchens and several bathrooms in Bedford Road, Barton-le-Clay, which he understood was a single-family unit.

Jeshree said after handing over to Ecolets, when he needed occasional accommodation, he believed a family could give him a room and would often come in at midnight. He was aware there were two separate entrances but did not go upstairs so did not see the locked doors.

Inspection

The tribunal heard that an environmental health officer from Central Bedfordshire Council found the landlord asleep in a ground floor room during an inspection after using a warrant. This followed neighbours’ complaints about overflowing bins and rats. Failures included inadequate fire separation between self-contained units and the HMO, lack of fire doors, and obstructed means of escape, while the communal kitchen was poorly maintained and unhygienic.

Jeshree, who runs operates 18 shops with his brothers and lets five houses, had appealed against the penalties, arguing that he could not have been a manager because there was a lease. He was fined £7,856 for having an unlicensed HMO, £9,284 for housing safety failures and £3,662 for failing to maintain the kitchen, first floor bathroom, garden and rear outbuilding.

Rejected

The judge rejected the appeal and said: “He suggested that during his whole time there he never went upstairs (so as to see the apparently new lockable bedroom door handles and items in the hallways) and came and went late at night so did not see other tenants regularly. We find that this lacks credibility. We also did not find it credible that a single-family unit would have given the applicant a part of the property part way through their tenancy.”

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