Landlord hit with £5000 fine

June 23, 2015 by Southend Borough Council

Landlord hit with £5000 fine

Wednesday 24th June 2015

A landlord who failed to license two of his properties has been fined nearly £5000.

Dean Collison, of Camper Road, Southend-on-Sea failed to attend Southend Magistrates Court on Wednesday 17th June and was found guilty in his absence of failing to license two houses of multiple occupation (HMO’s) at 21 Ramuz Drive, Westclif-on-Sea, and 16 Edith Road, Southend-on-Sea, and for two counts of breaching the HMO Management Regulations.

The total fine was £3,600 along with the Council’s court costs of £1,245.71 and a victim surcharge of £120 totalling £4,965.71.

The Council’s private sector housing team became aware of the properties in March 2014 in response to complaints from neighbours. Mr Collinson failed to licence the properties despite repeated warnings and had no organised management of the buildings as he spends most of his time in South East Asia.

Cllr David Norman, Executive Cllr for Housing, Planning and Regulatory Services, says: “The cases were the culmination of 12 months of hard work with the Council even having to force entry to the properties under the authorisation of a Magistrate’s warrant as Mr Collinson failed to provide access and the tenants would not allow the Council in voluntarily.

“Thanks to our intervention and prosecution, Mr Collinson has put forward an alternative person to be both the licence holder and manager of the properties and licences are soon to be issued. This will avoid the Council needing to take an Interim Management Order against the property which would see the Council take over control, and also ensure that these properties are properly managed and looked after.”

If you want to report an HMO that you believe is not licensed, please contact the Council by emailing: council@southend.gov.uk