St Leonards landlord fined £8,000 for 16 offences

A landlord has been fined more than £8,000 for a total of 16 offences under the Housing Act, according to Hastings Borough Council.

Thomas Wallace, pleaded guilty to the offence of non-compliance with a statutory improvement notice at 25 Boscobel Road, St Leonards, for which he was fined £2,667 and required to pay £432 costs and £170 victim surcharge, the council said.

Following sentencing of the offences with regards to 25 Boscobel Road, Mr Wallace was also then sentenced for 15 previous offences for which he pleaded guilty to of operating 15 privately rented properties that were required to be licenced under the council’s selective licensing scheme. For these offences, Mr Wallace was fined £367 per offence and required to pay costs of £435 per offence.

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A spokesman for the council said in total Mr Wallace was fined £8,171 and required to pay costs of £6,912.

Councillor Andy Batsford said: “Given the large number of properties owned by Mr Wallace, it is disappointing that Mr Wallace was not fined even more.

“Fortunately, most landlords do not behave in this way.

“We want responsible landlords in this town and unlicensed landlords will be advised, warned and then taken to court for operating illegally.

“We want decent housing for all in our town.”