Both landlords were found out following unannounced inspections by council enforcement officers.

However, the first landlord to be fined appealed against the council's decision both on the ground that their property was not an HMO and on the ground of the level of the fine itself. The appeal was, though, dismissed by the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) and the £15,000 fine was reimposed.

At the appeal the landlord was unable to provide a rebuttal to all the evidence provided by the council which included photographic evidence as well as evidence provided by another local authority (Wolverhampton) involving taxi licenses which had been applied for and which gave the property in Portsmouth as the address of the taxi licence applicants - which included the names of individuals who did actually live at the unlicensed HMO.

In the case of the second landlord to be fined the landlord - described as "having a large rental portfolio in the city" - claimed that there were only 4 residents living at the unlicensed property but the council inspection found that there were actually 6 tenants in occupation, all of whom were paying rent.

This landlord was called to attend at the property, whilst council officers were still carrying out their inspection, because fire safety issues had been discovered (no working smoke detector system installed). He was instructed by both the council officers and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire & Rescue Service to resolve this issue immediately.

Unlike the first landlord fined, this second landlord accepted the evidence as presented and the fine of £24,000 was imposed for the licence breach.

Cllr. Ian Holder, Cabinet Member for Safety in the Community, said "It's so important that people live in safe and well-maintained properties, and HMO licensing allows us to make sure this is happening across the city ...."

Portsmouth City Council is bringing in an additional licensing scheme covering smaller HMO properties which will come into force on 1st September 2023.

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