Landlord Iqbal Mia was fined £7,500 for overcrowded HMOs despite having a rent guarantee agreement with letting agency Elite Rooms Portsmouth Limited that contained clauses prohibiting breaches of HMO rules. was fined.
The house at 67 Manners Road, Portsmouth (pictured) was initially allowed to house five people in five separate rooms. When an application was made to increase the number of units to six, a housing regulation officer visited the house and found that a family of three people, seven people in total, were living in each room. 
guilty
The landlord was subsequently charged with running an overcrowded HMO, a charge he denied and insisted that it was the letting agency's responsibility to control the number of tenants in the home. He was found guilty and fined £7,500, but immediately appealed.
The warning is to strictly follow the rules. ”
At the appeal court, he said Companies House had entered into a guaranteed rent agreement with Elite Rooms Portsmouth Limited, which is still in business, to run the property and told the agent “not to do anything in relation to the incident.'' “No,” he explained. The property warrants that the applicant is not in violation of a license or other agreement and that no illegal activities are taking place with respect to the management of the property. ”
The judge disagreed and upheld the fine, stating that it was Mia who held the license and that Mia had done nothing to ensure that Elite Rooms complied with the rules. The court held that Mia was ultimately responsible for the violation.
Cllr Leigh Hunt, Portsmouth City Council's cabinet member for community safety, leisure and sport, said: 'Residents living near HMOs can be confident that the council will pursue landlords and agents who don't comply with the rules.
“People living in communal housing must not be exploited. We will deal harshly with unscrupulous landlords. There are no excuses. The warning is to strictly follow the rules.”
Learn more about HMO licensing.
