Student landlord fined over £8,000 for not maintaining fire alarm in Headingley house

Simon Peter Lewis, of Wigton Grove in Alwoodley, was letting the house-share on Ash Road in Headingley to university students.

Yet he failed to apply for a HMO licence, which is required for any property in which five or more tenants share facilities such as a kitchen and bathrooms.

The rules over HMO licences were tightened up in 2018, and they're now for mandatory for houses of fewer than three floors if there are five or more occupants. Some buildings containing multiple self-contained bedsits or flats also require licences.

Leeds City Council housing officers took enforcement action against Mr Lewis and he was fined £8,500 for failing to licence his property and inadequate maintenance of the fire alarm system.

Last year a rogue landlord was taken to court after failing to ensure basic safety standards at houses he was renting out to families in Leeds.

And in 2017 another buy-to-let owner was fined after a house in Headingley was found to have 11 people living in accommodation suitable for just seven tenants.