An unnamed landlord in Coventry has been fined £1,600 after failing to provide proof that he had completed mandatory electrical safety checks at a property of his in the city centre.
Council officials claim the man is the first landlord in the UK to be given such as fine, putting millions of letting agents and landlords on notice that councils now see these fines as a new enforcement and revenue avenue.
Coventry City Council gave the landlord the statutory seven days to get an electrical safety check on the property completed and the paperwork sent to council officials, but this he failed to do.
Since July 1st 2021 all residential landlords in England must ensure that the electrical installations in a property are safe and are inspected and tested at least every five years, regardless of when the tenancy started. Wales is due to follow suit in July.
FURTHER ACTION
Coventry Council will now also be serving a remedial notice requiring further action to be taken.
The EICR report should have been completed on or around the 1st April 2020 by a competent and suitably qualified electrician to show that the electrical installation in the property was safe and a copy provided to the tenant.
Adrian Chowns, Property Licensing and Housing Enforcement Manager for Coventry City Council says: “We believe this is the first time these powers have been used by a Local Authority in England.
“It highlights how we are taking a proactive approach to enforcement and clamping down on rogue landlords in its city.”
Was this fine for an unsafe electrical system or just for the absence of a certificate?
Just stated as not complying, so could be either.
The Coventry Evening Telegraph carries a bit more, stating
“The landlord has committed multiple offences both recently and in the past, all of which are serious in their nature, and has put multiple tenants at risk of harm. We’ve provided lots of advice to the landlord, but he has continued to contravene the law and there are no signs of improvement.”