Ex-Councillor Banned from Letting Properties

Ex councillor’s two-year property letting ban

A property tribunal has banned a former councillor and landlord from renting out homes for two years after he failed to carry out repairs ordered under improvement notices.

Officers from Camden Council, London, told the First-Tier Property Tribunal that Johnathan Bucknall took at least four years to fix problems like leaks and dampness in a flat he rented out below his home and a neighbouring property in Chamberlain Street, Primrose Hill.

The first notice was issued in 2018, and some work was outstanding in 2022.

In 2022, Bucknall, 67, admitted housing offences and was ordered to pay £92,000 in addition to fines from previous hearings totalling £72,000.

Bucknall explained he had tried to complete the repairs himself but agreed he had ‘taken his eye off the ball’.

The tribunal banned Bucknall from managing property personally or through a company.

Tribunal chair Judge Helen Bowers said: “Mr Bucknell did not appreciate the seriousness of the improvement notices. It seems to us that he has no sense of urgency and lacks awareness of the responsibilities he owes to the occupiers.”

£28,000 rent refund claim thrown out for missing deadline

The First-Tier Property Tribunal ruled that an application for a rent repayment order of £28,231 was out of time because it was a day late.

The tenants of a flat at Reighton Road, Hackney, East London, applied for a rent refund when property manager Bostal Estates Ltd was convicted of letting the property without a house in multiple occupation (HMO) licence.

The law states the offence must have occurred within 12 months before the date of application, but the tribunal ruled the tenants had missed the deadline by a day.

The application was dismissed as the tribunal had no jurisdiction due to the late filing of documents.

Landlord ordered to pay emergency repair bill

Landlord David Strong argued a claim for the cost of remedial work at a rented home should be dropped because South Derbyshire Council failed to serve an improvement notice correctly.

The notice ordering emergency repairs was issued after the tenant, young mum Kerry Parker, complained to the council that she feared her child was at risk in the cold and damp rented home at Parliament Street, Derby.

The council served the notice at Strong’s listed home address and by email. Strong said he hadn’t seen the notice for a while as he had moved home, and the letter took some time to reach him. Meanwhile, the council carried out the repairs and billed him £3,837.

The First-Tier Tribunal ruled the notice was served correctly and ordered Strong to pay the council £3,387 for the remedial work.

Recent First-Tier Property Tribunal Rulings

• Landlord Jane Brown must pay a rent repayment order and costs of  £14,700  for renting out a shared flat (HMO) in Farriers House, Errol Street, Clerkenwell, London, without a license.
• Property management company Grand Residential Ltd must pay a rent repayment order of £3,850 plus £300 costs for renting out a shared house (HMO)  in Mill Street, Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, without a licence.
• Landlords Ms Uzma Rafiq and Taj Rafiq must pay a rent repayment order of £13,800 after letting an unlicenced shared house (HMO) in Elm Way, Neasden, North London, to three tenants.
• Landlord Pankaj Goyal was ordered to pay two tenants a rent repayment order of £7,264 with £400 costs for letting an unlicensed shared house (HMO) in Croombs Road, Newham, East London.