Lady liberty holding the scales of justice

Landlord failed to arrange gas safety checks despite Improvement Notice

A letting agent and its director have been fined for not having gas safety checks carried out in their rental property.

Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court heard that the landlord, Belleview Property, failed to carry out the annual gas safety check at its rental property in Colchester, Essex. Belleview was served with an Improvement Notice requiring the checks to be carried out but failed to do within the specified timeframe. The agent also failed to provide details of the tenancy agreement when requested to do so by an HSE inspector.

HSE’s investigation found that Belleview’s failures were committed with the consent of or were attributable to neglect on the part of Adrian Ellis, who was its sole director.

Mr Ellis had previously been prosecuted by HSE, the court was told, for failing to arrange gas safety checks at properties that he owned and rented out. Belleview had also been subject to HSE enforcement twice in the past five years for failing to arrange gas safety checks at its rental properties, including the one to which this prosecution referred.

Belleview Property Limited of Station Road, St Ives, Cambridgeshire, pleaded guilty to breaching the Gas Safety Installation & Use Regulations 1998, Regulation 36(3) and failing to comply with the requirement to provide information under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, Section 20. It was fined £12,000 plus costs of £2,245.28.

Director Adrian Ellis from Colchester pleaded guilty to breaching Section 37(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £3,000 plus costs of £2,245.28.

Both defendants were ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £170.

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