Three landlords fined £11,000 for housing offences

Three Oxford landlords were fined a total of £11,000 after being convicted of housing offences.

Environmental Health Officers from Oxford City Council inspected their properties earlier in the year and the three cases were heard at Oxford Magistrates’ Court.

Mr Abdul Saleem Chaudhry, 66, of Headley Way, Oxford, was prosecuted after officers found three restaurant staff living on the third floor his Shezan restaurant in High Street, Oxford. Council officers say the property was a high-risk unlicensed House in Multiple Occupation (HMO), with two fire-safety faults.

Mr Chaudhry pleaded guilty and received fines totalling £4,000 and was ordered to pay surcharges and council costs of £1,436.

Mr Shoukat Khan, 44, of Duke Street, Oxford, was prosecuted after investigations into a rented house he owned in Earl Street, Oxford. Council officers found he had breached fire and safety conditions of his HMO licence. He received a fine of £2,000 and was ordered to pay surcharges and council costs of £1,375.

Mrs Deborah May Humes, 57, of Inott Furze, Oxford, was prosecuted after a council officer visited the rented house she owned in Inott Furze. They found three unrelated tenants in the unlicensed rental house and fire offences including a lack of two working smoke alarms and no fire door to the kitchen.

Mrs Humes pleaded guilty by letter to managing an unlicensed HMO and two breaches of the HMO management regulations. She received fines totalling £5,000 and was ordered to pay surcharges and council costs of £1,238.