A rogue landlord who took a ‘devil-may-care’ attitude to compliance has been handed a ten-year ban from renting out properties.

Gateshead Council told a First Tier Property Tribunal that Anthony Hall, of Ravensworth Road, Birtley, had a significant history of breaching housing laws and licensing laws at properties, which included Westbourne Avenue, Gateshead, and Queen Street and West Street in Chester Le St.

His current convictions related to failures to comply with improvement notices which represented serious health and safety risks such as damp, mould, and electrical hazards. The council said there was no evidence that his lengthy history of non-compliance would change.

The judge said: “It is clear from the evidence before the tribunal that the respondent has a devil-may-care attitude towards compliance with residential landlord and tenant regulations. The breaches in question put the health and safety of his tenants at risk and were sufficiently serious that they resulted in criminal convictions and substantial fines.”

Crimes

He added that these were not victimless crimes as tenants had detailed the real-life impact of his persistent breaches, including suffering from damp and mould, unsafe gas appliances and electrical wiring, and difficulties in unlocking an emergency exit from the property.

The judge said Hall, who failed to appear at the tribunal, had shown no evidence of remorse or willingness to change.

He added that a 10-year ban was “justified and proportionate…and necessary to deter the respondent from managing residential premises himself for the foreseeable future, and to act as a deterrent to other private landlords who may be tempted to disregard housing laws in the same way”.

Appoint

Hall was banned from letting housing in England and engaging in letting or property management work. The council said if he did not appoint a suitable alternative manager for his remaining properties, it would seek a management order to ensure they were managed effectively, tenants were protected, and housing standards upheld.

Fewer than 40 landlords have been subject to banning orders in the last 10 years, and most were for between one and five years.

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