Another Success for Linda and her Team

Second landlord handed £12,000 bill after ignoring licensing warnings

A landlord is now facing a bill of more than £12,000, becoming the second in a fortnight to be prosecuted for failing to properly licence a property in Cross Green.

Steven Mark Ridgeon and his company, Ridge Properties Yorkshire Limited, ignored warnings to obtain ‘selective licenses’ for 2 Frederick Avenue, 36 Glensdale Grove, 1 Charles Avenue and 17 East Park Street in Leeds.

At Leeds Magistrates Court on Thursday, the company was fined £6,000 for failing to obtain a Licence for three properties and a further £1,500 fine was handed to Mr Ridgeon, the owner of the fourth property and director of the company. Costs of £3,529.90 were awarded, with a further £1,046.50 awarded against Mr Ridgeon.

Councillor Peter Gruen, Leeds City Council’s executive board member for housing, said:

• “Most landlords in the city take their responsibilities seriously, but there are a few who show little or no interest in managing their properties responsibly.
• 
  “A small minority of landlords let their properties without really checking up on their new tenants.
• 
  “Selective licensing helps the council deal with bad landlords and ignoring warnings that properties should be licensed is simply unacceptable.”
  

In a bid to crack down on anti-social tenants and poor housing, part of Cross Green and East End Park in Leeds was designated as an area of Selective Licensing last October. It means all owners of privately rented properties in the area need a special licence to operate.

Ridge Properties Yorkshire Limited ignored numerous letters and opportunities to obtain a Selective Licence, even writing on one occasion to the council to claim that it owned only four properties in the designated area, when in fact they owned a total of eight.

The firm had licensed the four it admitted to, but despite being made aware of its legal obligations chose not to license the further four properties.

In a selective licensing area the landlord must also meet a ‘fit and proper person’ test to obtain a licence. Their rented properties must meet the licence conditions, ensuring they are safe and that the landlord can, and will, deal with anti-social tenants. Failure to have applied for or obtained a licence could mean a fine, on conviction, of up to £20,000.

The aim is to help to address issues of low demand affecting the area and reduce the anti-social behaviour of tenants in privately rented properties. Landlords will not be made responsible for the actions of their tenants, but they will be expected to take action if they know that their tenants are causing a problem.

This is excellent news for the people of the area, at last people are begining to realise that the quality of landlords and the behaviour of their tenants has much to do with the quality of life of themsleves and their neighbours. Keep up the good work.

Just one thought, should someone who has behaved as this landlord has still retain licences for the four houses he admitted to after all it is hardly the behaviour of a 'fit and proper person' is it?

NB: From 3 November 2010 the meetings between tenants/landlords and the Selective Licensing team at the Richmond Hill Community Centre, Long Close Lane will be between 5-6pm ON THE FIRST WEDNESDAY OF EVERY MONTH ONLY however the team can be contacted by telephone on 0113 395 0044 and on email bySelective licensing or you can post comments on here and we will see they are passed on

At last some good news for East End Park and Cross Green

Firstly let me say that COVEN believe that this is a good area with many good people living here however it has in recent years experienced some severe problems, but at the heart of most of the problems faced by our community has been uncaring absentee landlords who rented out property to anyone, with no thought for the affect these sometimes bad or troubled tenants might have on the other residents of the area.

Bad tenants contributed substantially to a high level of anti social behaviour and dragged down the property values making the houses ever cheaper for the same bad landlords to snap up.

However last October a Selective Licensing Scheme was brought in covering Cross Green and parts of East End Park. Poor quality, badly maintained housing and absentee landlords were making the living conditions for their neighbours quite unbearable and something quite clearly had to be done.

Not all the landlords in the area were bad or uncaring but a small proportion certainly were and it was at these people that this scheme was specifically aimed. The new scheme required accommodation of a minimum safe standard to be provided and also a certain standard of previous good conduct from any landlord operating in the designated area. Whilst landlords with a Selective License are not be made responsible for the actions of their tenants, but they are expected to take action if they know that their tenants are causing a problem.

COVEN have had an ongoing dialogue with the Head of Selective Licensing, Linda Sherwood, and her department since before the Scheme was introduced and we strongly support its work and both ourselves and the Selective Licencing Scheme are always eager to hear from residents if an address in the designated area is causing a problem.


A list of all the Selective Licensed properties is published on the council's website where you can check the status of a property and this list is regularly updated. We are told that more prosecutions may follow in the near future which is good news as only tough enforcement will make the bad landlords think twice about trying to operate in the area without a Selective License.

We take our hats of to Linda and her team in getting the scheme up and running, it has been a huge project but it is a small but vital step in the regeneration of this area. We also want to thank our councillors Brett and Pryke (Lib Dem) who started the process and our MP Hilary Benn (Labour) who all played their part in getting the scheme going.

We've made a positive start in taking back our area and we intend to keep up the good work!