Landlord ordered to pay £30k after tenants left without heating and hot water

A landlord who failed to license his property as a house in multiple occupation and subjected his tenants to four weeks in winter without heating or hot water has been ordered to pay more than £30,000 in fines and costs.

Royston Cooper had rented the house in Talgarth Road, Hammersmith, to five architectural students.

The students complained to Hammersmith & Fulham Council over the state of the house, where the boiler had broken and a shared toilet leaked waste.

The landlord had failed to fix the boiler despite their requests. Council officers arranged for a new boiler to be installed and the toilet to be fixed.

A lawyer for the local authority told Hammersmith Magistrates’ Court on 7 October that a hefty fine was needed to reflect the physical and mental hardship endured by the tenants.

Cooper, 47, of Billingshurst in West Sussex, did not appear and was found guilty of four offences under the Housing Act.

The defendant was fined:

• £15,000 for failing to license the house as an HMO;
• £5,000 for failing to maintain the boiler;
• £5,000 for not fixing a leaking soil pipe in the toilet; and
• £3,000 for failing to respond to an investigator’s request for information.

Cooper was also ordered to pay costs of £2,160 and a victim surcharge of £120.

The council said the tenants, who moved out in February, could now apply to have some of their rent returned.

Cllr Lisa Homan, H&F Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “This is a fantastic result – both for the tenants, who were forced to endure a miserable winter without heating or hot water, and for our private housing and health team, who did not hesitate in taking action when it was needed.

“We will continue to crack down hard on landlords who think they can get away with allowing their tenants to suffer in sub-standard conditions.”