Cesar De Sousa Melo was fined £14,000 and banned for four years in letting any house in England for fire breaches and putting the tenants’ lives in danger, a tribunal court heard.
Camden council reported that after investigation, it was found that there were no adequate fire/smoke alarms in a Goldington Crescent flat or a flat in Gray’s Inn Road that Mr Melo was letting.
Camden Council has obtained London’s first rogue landlord banning order – against a man who repeatedly placed tenants’ lives at risk through letting unsafe housing: https://t.co/FH0CzeFQI6 pic.twitter.com/QrmX829TKl
— Camden Council (@CamdenCouncil) November 18, 2019
The council said: “Tenants’ health and safety at Goldington Crescent was placed at risk through non-working fire alarms, a kitchen door broken off its hinges and the property being overcrowded, and the kitchen was too small.”
All tenants were identified as young, overseas tenants who were vulnerable to exploitation, that had their health and safety ‘compromised’ throught the landlord’s neglect.
This case is the first of its kind in London, where a landlord is banned from letting for numerous safety breaches including fire.
Mr Melo’s operation at all the flats has no been ceased, and all the flats have been fitted with working smoke/fire detectors.
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