Poor living conditions lead to Council intervention

Plymouth City Council have issued an Interim Management Order (IMO) against a city landlord and taken over the management of a large house in Stoke due to poor living conditions.

Following a small fire in the property housing officers discovered that it was being rented by eight tenants but was not licenced as a house with multiple occupants (HMO).

In addition, the property did not have sufficient fire precautions for a house of its size, was in poor condition and some tenants did not have running hot water or adequate bathroom facilities.

The IMO was issued when the landlord failed to apply for a licence or put forward a programme of planned works to address the problems.

The Council’s housing team are working with Property Links, who are in the process of carrying out an inventory of the property before essential works are agreed and carried out.

Councillor Chris Penberthy, Cabinet Member for Co-operatives and Community Development said: “We are working hard to get tough on rogue landlords to improve support for tenants in Plymouth. On this occasion the house was being rented by a number of people of all ages, some having lived there for many years. 

“We need to make sure that basic living conditions are provided for everyone – could you imagine if it was an elderly relative that was paying to live in a property that was unsafe, dirty and didn’t even have running hot water? It’s a disgrace and we need to stop it now!”

The action been taken by the Council is intended to protect the existing tenants to prevent them from having to seek alternative accommodation.