A Birmingham HMO landlord with a ‘long history’ of failing to licence his properties correctly has been hit with a £21,000 court bill.
Muhammed Ali, of Oxford Road, Birmingham, pleaded guilty to 10 charges of breaching the Housing Act 2004 at a hearing at Birmingham Magistrates Court on Thursday, November 5.
The charges relate to properties he owns in Minster Drive, Langley Road, Deakins Road and Aspen Grove in Birmingham, some of which were converted into self-contained flats for renting out.
Simon Mortimer, prosecuting on behalf of Birmingham City Council said they all fell in Birmingham City Council’s selective licensing areas, making it compulsory for landlords to have licences for rental properties.
He said Ali had previously been fined for similar offences on a number of different occasions, totalling tens of thousands of pounds, with the first occurring in June 2010.
He said: “It simply appears that he won’t get licences. He knows he needs them. The properties are within Birmingham City Council’s selective licensing area.”
Sham Uddin, defending, said Ali had become “overwhelmed” by changing regulations with the introduction of selective licensing, which resulted in the current offences.
He added the 56-year-old had made an effort to sort out the issue but this was not completed in time and he found himself in breach.
He said: “My client has not been prosecuted for mistreating any tenants or for evictions. Selective licensing was brought in so that people would not mistreat their tenants.
“These are regulatory offences – licences were not applied for.
“This is a man who manages properties but who appears to be overwhelmed with the regulations. But he has pleaded guilty to the 10 offences.”
Magistrates fined Ali £16,000 and ordered him to pay a £2,000 victim surcharge and prosecution costs of £3,680.
The chair of the bench said: “Mr Ali has a long history of failure to obtain the correct licences for the properties he owns since 2010.”
By Gurdip Thandi | Local Democracy Reporting Service
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