A landlord in Peterborough is to pay a £4,800 fine after ignoring a prohibition order preventing him from renting out a ‘sheds with beds’ property at the rear of his garden.

61-year-old Tariq Khan of Wilberforce Road, Peterborough has been convicted following a case brought by Peterborough Borough Council at the town’s Magistrates Court over the property on Clarence Road (pictured).

Council officers first visited the address eight years ago after being alerted to the shed’s use as a rental property, finding that it was in poor condition with inadequate lighting, ventilation and fire safety measures and “too small to be reasonably occupied by an individual).

On that basis, the council issued a prohibition order on the property, stopping its use for residential purposes.

But to the astonishment of council officers who revisited the property in October 2022, Khan had ignored the order and rented it to a family of nine including four adults and five children (pictured, right).

Fined

Given this flagrant disregard for the law, Khan has now been convicted of failing to comply with a prohibition order under section 32 of the Housing Act 2004.

He was fined £2,000, ordered to pay £2,000 costs to the council and ordered to pay a £800 surcharge. The building is currently empty.

Councillor Peter Hiller (pictured), Cabinet Member for Housing Growth and Regeneration says: "This prosecution should serve as a warning to the small minority of landlords who put their tenants at risk and flout the law. Landlords play an essential role in providing safe, warm and healthy homes to the residents of Peterborough.

"We will take enforcement action under the range of powers available to us if we discover landlords who flagrantly disregard the law."

Khan might think himself lucky - a landlord in Sudbury last year was given a fine of nearly £500,000 for a comparable offence.

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