TWO landlords who failed to comply with safety and improvement notices on property they continued to rent out have been fined over £6,500.

Bradford Council served an Improvement Notice on Atha Properties Ltd in respect of a house in Lastingham Green, Wibsey, which was rented out by the company.

Atha Properties’ director Paul Atha, 59, of Bridle Stile, Shelf, Halifax, pleaded guilty to one offence of failing to comply with an Improvement Notice.

Magistrates at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates’ Court were told on Friday, April 20, that there were various defects in the property including a missing roof tile, a leak from the bathroom, mould growth and missing sealant around the bath.

There was an upstairs window the property which did not have a catch on it to restrict it from opening fully, said prosecutor Aneeka Sarwar.

Ms Sarwar said housing officers later inspected the property and found that the improvements had not been carried out.

Atha told court that the company had made a mistake and fitted window locks instead of a restricted opening catch.

Also fined on Friday was Ashfaq Hussain, 59, of Manor Road, Keighley.

He had been warned a bedroom in a house he rented out was a fire hazard.

He was found guilty in his absence to 12 offences of breaching housing regulations and failing to comply with improvement notices issued by Bradford Council.

Prosecutor Harjit Ryatt said in June 2017 housing officers visited the terraced house in North Street, Keighley.

The house had been converted into six one-room flats, one of which had no safe means of evacuation if a fire had started in the kitchen.

Mr Hussain told officers that he rented out that room because he needed the financial income, said Mr Ryatt.

Other defects in the house had also not been rectified. The fire alarm system was not working, electrical fittings were outdated, there was a broken window and loose carpets on the stairs.

Magistrates fined Atha £2,500 and also ordered he pay costs of costs of £594 and a victim surcharge of £170.

Hussain was fined £4,020 and costs of costs order of £1,865.

Following the case, Steve Hartley, Bradford Council Strategic Director with responsibility for housing, said: “This case shows how seriously both the courts and the Council regard the safety of tenants in the privately rented sector.”