A High Wycombe landlord who let his tenants live in an unlicensed home with holes in the wall and missing window and door handles has been fined.

Sixty-year-old Mohammed Gulistan, from Oakridge Road, admitted failing to provide locks on the doors to all the rooms he was letting out or replace a missing kitchen window handle and a door handle, as well as leaving a gaping hole in the kitchen wall.

He also left the garden in a state and did not provide good fire protection to the loft hatch and cupboard beneath the stairs.

He also failed to display the name, address and telephone number of the manager in a "prominent" position in the house, which is a legal requirement if you are a landlord.

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Mr Gulistan came to the attention of Wycombe District Council as the owner of an unlicensed house in multiple occupation (HMO) in June 2019, when he was asked to apply for a licence - which he did.

On Wednesday, March 4, he pleaded guilty at Wycombe Magistrates' Court to eight charges - failure to license a HMO and seven breaches of the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006 relating to the bad conditions in the house.

He was fined £4,983 and ordered to pay costs of £500 and a victim surcharge of £166 – a total of £5,649.

Cllr Julia Langley, Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “This is our second successful prosecution in the past month for unlicensed and unsafe HMOs, and 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.”

The council's enforcement team can often be seen taking action street-by-street across the district to identify any unlicensed HMOs - and they were last out on March 5 to net rogue landlords and make sure the homes are in a safe condition.

Landlords and managers are welcome at any time to ask for advice about licensing or works required in HMOs by emailing HMOlicensing@wycombe.gov.uk or by calling 01494 421777.