Landlord failed to provide proper health and safety checks
Landlords have a duty of care that must be followed. One Wakefield property owner repeatedly ignored health and safety warnings with regard to gas appliances at his rental locations. He did not have proper registered gas engineers out to his property for the safety tests. Since he failed to conduct proper health and safety checks for his properties, he was given notices by the HSE after health and safety audits. He even ignored the warnings to have the work done by a certain deadline. Such blatant refusals have landed the landlord in the courts to be prosecuted for his failings. The incidents happened in 2009 and the court heard about one of the cases in 2010. The court provided a request for a copy of the safety records, but the landlord did not reply.
He consistently ignored the court’s first attempt at solving the issue. Even now, nothing has been heard from the landlord regarding his case or prosecution. He has definitely ignored his legal obligations and is considered a repeat offender. There are fines to be taken from the landlord, but even TV programmes have been unable to find this landlord. It seems that he has continued to provide unsafe environments, but the courts have yet to be able to stop him since he often disappears before he can be prosecuted. Mohammed Fahim Hanif owes £450 in a fine along with £1,000 in other costs should he be found though this may change if he continues to elude the court.
