The licence holder was also fined an additional £800 for not being a member of a recognised property redress scheme.

West Northamptonshire Council executed a warrant to enter the property in May 2022 after complaints were raised about safety conditions inside the shared house. During the inspection council officers discovered that the electricity meter had been tampered with resulting in the council itself instructing an electrician to attend at the address to carry out emergency repairs to make the property safe.

In addition, there were fire safety breaches including missing smoke alarms and poorly maintained fire doors. The licence holder was fined, for breaches of the HMO licence conditions, by the council in December 2022 and had three months to appeal the fine but failed to do so.

The council says that the actual owner of the property "took back responsibility" for the property after the council's warrant was executed and carried out further works to ensure that the property was made safe. The HMO licence covering the address was surrendered and the property converted into a single family house.

The council added that "This case highlights the importance of not only licensing a HMO property but also the requirement to maintain the property to ensure the occupants are not put at risk".

Cllr. Adam Brown, Cabinet Member for Housing, Culture and Leisure, said "From some of the images captured at this address, it is clear the licensee had little regard for the safety of their tenants. The Housing Team cannot visit every property, but this case demonstrates that we will take action when people contact us with their concerns".

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