A LANDLORD has been ordered to pay almost £5,000 after failing to make improvements to his property.

Blackburn with Darwen Council had been asking Paul Robert Ranford Clark to carry out work at the two-bedroomed property 89 Redlam since August 8 last year.

It served a legal ‘improvement notice’ but visits to the tenanted house discovered that none of the renovations and repairs had been done.

On May 2 Blackburn magistrates found Clark, of 19 York St, Church, guilty in his absence of ‘failure to comply with an Improvement Notice under Sections 11 and 12 of Housing Act 2004’.

The 58-year-old was ordered to pay a total of £4.753 in penalties and costs.

The magistrates fined Clark £2,000 and ordered him to pay costs of £2,583 and a victim surcharge of £170.

Borough housing boss, Cllr Peter Cooke highlighted the prosecution as evidence of the council’s determination to crackdown on ‘the minority of rogue landlords’.

Tory group leader, Cllr John Slater welcomed the successful prosecution.

Magistrates were told an Improvement Notice was served requiring the owner to carry out work by October 3 to remove hazards from the property.

The work required included general repairs, providing heating in the bathroom, remedying penetrating dampness, replacing glazing to boarded up windows and the back door, and repairing the electric shower.

The repairs had been outstanding since the tenant moved in but the landlord didn’t carry out any of the work, the magistrates were told.

Revisits between October 26 and the court hearing revealed the owner had failed to carry out the necessary work, which also included installing a carbon monoxide detector and smoke detectors.

Mr Cooke, service lead for strategic housing at Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: “We take these prosecution cases very seriously, especially when they involve putting tenants at risk due to serious disrepair, hazards and substandard management practices.

“These fines serve as a significant punishment and shows that it is not cheaper to offend than comply with basic legal requirements.

“This council will continue to crack down on the minority of rogue landlords who shirk their legal responsibilities and place tenants at risk of harm.”

Cllr Slater said: “We want the council to ensure that rented properties across the borough are kept up to standard by their landlords.

“This should not just be in selective licensing areas.

"Tenants need to be protected from the minority of rogue landlords.”