A property manager operating an unlicensed HMO on behalf of its owner has been fined £6,500 along with £4,172 in costs and a £190 victim surcharge at Gwent magistrates court. Operating without a licence was one of 9 offences to which the manager pleaded guilty at court and which had come to light after council officers inspected the property in 2021.

Amongst other issues the court found that fire exits were not kept free of obstructions, no regard was paid to the number of people occupying the property and structural conditions inside the property were such that occupiers were not reasonably protected from injury.