‘A deliberate and flagrant breach!' Property company fined after rising damp found at house

Rising damp, poorly maintained windows and perished plaster in the bathroom were among the problems found in the house.

Maybach Lettings Ltd failed to obtain a damp survey report at the property managed by them as part of work needed to address excess cold, and also ignored a number of requests to do so by Telford & Wrekin Council’s Private Sector Housing Officers.

The company, based in Telford, appeared at Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday, represented by director Mr Khiara Singh who pleaded guilty on the firm’s behalf to one charge of failing to comply with an improvement notice served under the Housing Act 2004.

At a visit to the property in Trench, Telford on 27 October 2020, environmental health officers found that the living room window would not close due to a faulty handle.

They also discovered cracked, single-glazed, corroded and poorly maintained windows on the ground floor of the property, warped plaster board in the kitchen and dining room ceilings, perished plaster in the bathroom and evidence of rising dampness and other defects.

In November 2020, the company was served with an improvement notice which required repairs and works to be carried out at the property and a damp survey report to be obtained.

However, despite assurances that the works would be carried out, further inspections by housing officers in March and September 2021 found the requests had been ignored.

Sentencing the company, District Judge Strongman stated that there had been ‘a deliberate and flagrant breach of the notice.’

Maybach Lettings Ltd was fined a total of £5100 and ordered to pay Telford & Wrekin Council’s full costs of £4254.32 and a victim surcharge of £190.

The prosecution was brought to court by the council’s Private Sector Housing Team, supported by the Council’s in house legal department.

Councillor Richard Overton Telford & Wrekin Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Housing, Enforcement and Transport said: “As a council which is on your side, we are committed to ensuring that our tenants live in a safe and comfortable environment and that landlords and property management firms maintain properties to a high standard.

“We want to work closely with landlords and property firms as much as we can but this case clearly demonstrates we will not tolerate requests being ignored and surveys and essential maintenance work not being completed.”