Private tenants pay HMO rent to council after dramatic intervention

Coventry council has issued financial penalties on a landlord of a poorly managed and unlicensed HMO totalling £60,000.

The council has also made its first Interim Management Order following the landlord’s persistent failure to licence the property.

Following a complaint from the occupants that they had been left without gas or electricity, Environmental Health Officers from the council established that it was operating as an HMO without a licence and there were multiple breaches of the HMO Management Regulations.

The landlord of this property was given several months to licence this property and failed to do so.

Where there is no reasonable prospect of a HMO being licensed in the near future, the council has a duty to take over management of the HMO by making an Interim Management Order.

The effect of the order means that the occupants have to pay their rent to the council, with the landlord still responsible for any mortgage payments. 

From this rent, the council ensures that the health and wellbeing of the occupants is protected, and that the general day-to-day management is improved.

A council spokesperson says: “The making of this Interim Management Order sends a clear message to landlords - if you do not licence your property the council can and will use its powers to take over the running of your HMO.

“The level of the financial penalty notice highlights the severe punishments that can be levied to those who flout the law. These fines are then ring-fenced for use by the team to further their enforcement work.”

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