A landlord who was letting out homes with dangerous electrics, broken windows and a damaged fire alarm has been fined £15,000.

Homes rented out by Ruksar Ahmed, 49, of Cedar Avenue in Hazlemere, were found to have major problems - including broken window fittings in a room occupied by children, a damaged fire alarm and cooker head, a hole in the wall behind a shower, dangerous electrics in a shower room, trip hazards in the way of an escape from the building and rubbish left in a communal garden.

Mr Ahmed first came to the attention of Wycombe District Council in February 2019 because he was the owner of an unlicensed house in multiple occupation (HMO). He was told to apply for a license - which he did - but in the application, he failed to tell the council about other HMOs.

He also gave a correspondence address that was uncovered to be a second unlicensed HMO which was owned and managed by him.

When he was confronted, he also failed to mention another HMO - which was only discovered during an investigation.

On Wednesday, January 29, Mr Ahmed pleaded guilty to nine charges put before Wycombe Magistrates' Court - including that he failed to license two HMOs and seven breaches of the The Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006 relating to poor conditions within the houses.

He was ordered to pay a fine of £15,000 as well as £2,134 in costs and a victim surcharge of £170, bringing the total to £17,304.

Wycombe District Council has been trying to crack down on the number of unlicensed homes in the area - which has included street-by-street action to identify HMOs to help improve conditions for those living there.

Cllr Julia Langley said they "won't hesitate to take legal action when a landlord flouts the rules like this".

She said: We won’t hesitate to take legal action when a landlord flouts the rules like this.

“Unlicensed HMOs often have some of the worst housing conditions in the district and often house some of the most vulnerable in our society.

“We suspect there are still a number of unlicensed HMOs within the district and so we welcome and act on all intelligence.”

Anyone suspecting an unlicensed HMO can report it to HMOlicensing@wycombe.gov.uk or call 01494 421777.

Legislation came into place on October 1, 2018, requiring all HMOs with five or more occupants living as two or more households to have a licence.

In a statement from Wycombe District Council in response to some comments posted on this article, a spokesman said: "A commenter on the HMO story named the directors of a company which owns the management lease of a block of flats in the centre of High Wycombe and deals solely with this site.

"One of those directors is Ruskar Ahmed who owns the leasehold of one of the properties (which is not an HMO).

"This company has no connection with Mr Ahmed’s HMO business, and no connection with the charges he faced."