Many UK Landlords facing fines

I have just received the March / April edition of "Landlord & Buy-to-Let Magazine" It has numerous reports of landlords being fined.

• Landlord fined for ignoring gas safety - An Oxfordshire landlord has been prosecuted for failing to ensure gas appliances in his property were safe and fit for purpose. The landlord from Kidlington was proescuted by the HSE - Health and Safety Executive as he failed to have gas appliances at the Didcot property he rented out safety checked. He was fined £8,000 plus ordered to pay costs of £1,947.
• Landlord fined for unsafe conditions - A landlord has been fined £15,000 after Lewisham Council prosecuted him for leaving his rented property in unsafe and dangerous conditions. It was discovered that he was in the middle of converting three of the floors into self contained flats with fourteen people living in rented rooms even though the house resembled a building site. There was an absence of electric power in part of the house, unfinished bathrooms and kitchen and waste discharging onto the ground and open and unprotected trenches.
• Record fine for landlord - A Haydock landlord has been fined £6,000 by St Helens Magistrates who heard a catalogue of housing hazards at his rented property. He was ordered to pay £1,169 costs. The landlord had rented it out to a young woman and her two children. Environmental Health Officers found Health and Safety issues due to lack of loft insulation, penetrating dampness, slip and trip hazards, lack of handrail on the stairs, excessively low headroom on the stairs and lack of gas safety certificate. The Principal Environmental Health Officer who brought the case said that this was the second private sector landlord to be prosecuted within the last four weeks.
• Landlord's fine for housing offences reduced - Following an appeal in the Crown Court on Thursday 7th January 2010, a Sneinton landlord has had his near maximum fine of £62,061 for three HMOs - Houses in Multiple Occupation licensing offences and three management offences reduced by half and made subject to a 12 month custodial sentence if the fine is not paid within 12 months. The case had been brought to Nottingham Magistrates Court in September 2009. Apart from the licensing issue the landlord had failed to ensure appropriate fire safety mechanisms were in place.

If you rent out a property - Do make sure that it is fully compliant with the vast number of regulations for rental property in the uk - Gas - Fire and Furnishings - Electric - EPC - HMO licensing - Health and Safety and you have it properly insured. http://www.jml-property-insurance.co.uk/landlords_insurance.htm