Council takes responsibility for own failings? Guess again…
In January 2021, Reigate and Banstead Council declared a property to be a House in Multiple Occupation and served a Section 255 Notice under The Housing Act 2004, against one property.
The Council correctly advised the Landlord that any appeal against the HMO Declaration must be made through an Application to the First-tier Tribunal and not directly to the Council.
Reigate and Banstead declared that the owner was running an HMO at this particular property and, because the landlord was providing emergency accommodation, it meant that the property was a House of Multiple Occupation. As such, due to legislative changes in October 2018, the property was required to obtain a Mandatory HMO Licence. The Council also chose to rely on the provisions of the Homeless Code of Guidance.
The Landlord sought professional advice and representation.
It was found that the Council had made no thorough or proper investigation and had no evidence to warrant the issue of the HMO Declaration. Had the Council taken the time to fully investigate the situation, they would have found that the property was the residential home of the Landlord, who was the sole occupant.
The Landlord followed the process that was set out by the Local Authority under the HMO Declaration, and an Application was made to the First-tier Tribunal, to challenge the Council’s decision.
This stunned the Council, so much so that they turned their incompetent actions on the Landlord.
A pitiful response from Council Officers
Council Officer responses ranged from baffling to bonkers:
“It is unfortunate that [the Landlord] was not clear during my conversation with him…”
“If he had spoken to me on receipt of the HMO Declaration Notice, as would be normally expected, we could have revisited which property/properties he uses.”
“I served a declaration on the property which I understood from him to be the one which he uses for temporary accommodation.”
“…which is not the original information given by him when I served the notice.”
My favourite… “[The Landlord] should have contacted me if I had the wrong address.”
What were they playing at!
So, Reigate and Banstead, you were asking the Landlord to do the following:
Incriminate himself.
Tell the Council that the HMO Declaration they investigated (?!) and issued was incorrect, so that the Officers could reissue the correct Notice. (Though this is another subject and matter for another day!)
Tell the Council how to do their job!
Like most Councils, Reigate and Banstead Council have taken no responsibility for their actions. They have issued no apology to the Landlord. Shockingly, the response from the Council’s Officer was “I will be investigating further and will inspect”.
The Council are now being watched; this behaviour is not acceptable and there is no basis for the intimidating approach adopted by the Authority.
The matter continues to cause the Landlord a great deal of stress, anxiety, and frustration.
The Council did revoke the HMO Declaration and the Landlord agreed to this, based on the Revocation and that the Council is not going to continue to harass the Landlord. Unfortunately, this appears to be exactly what they intend to do.
