An Edinburgh landlord has been fined £1000 for failing to have the correct licence for a rented house.

Yousef Mohammed was successfully prosecuted for operating a house in multiple occupation (HMO) without a licence.

Under The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, landlords of private rented residences must register and obtain a licence for any which are let in multiple occupation with three or more unrelated tenants. Failure to do so can result in local authorities striking them off the register or refusing a licence for the house in question.

Despite claiming that his failure to licence the Grange property was down to an agent who had subsequently ceased trading, Mr Mohammed was found guilty of deliberately attempting to evade the HMO licensing scheme on December 19.

He was separately found to be not “fit and proper” to hold a HMO licence by the council in September.

Councillor Rob Munn, convenor of the City of Edinburgh Council’s Regulatory Committee, said: “This landlord has demonstrated a blatant disregard for the HMO licensing scheme which this council finds unacceptable. The conviction sends a clear message to landlords who fail to adhere to the law by operating without a licence. This will not be tolerated and the decision will be welcomed by all tenants and law abiding landlords.

“Tenants have the right to a decent standard of living in a safe and secure home and landlords should make sure they provide this. This prosecution shows that we will take action against those landlords who do not comply.”

The offence is the last reported by the council under The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, for which HMO provisions will be replaced by the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006.

The 2006 act allows local authorities additional enforcement powers and increases the maximum fine level for running an unlicensed HMO to £50,000.

Tenants can check whether their landlord is registered on the Scottish Government’s National Landlord Registration website. Tenants who feel unfairly treated by a landlord can report these to the independent Private Rented Housing Panel.

Complaints received from tenants by the council include unfair loss of deposits, poor condition of property and abusive behaviour.

IN DETAIL

Scottish Government’s National Landlord Registration website