Letting agent fined £10k over dangerous floor

The tenant's bathroom floor was close to collapsing, Bradford Council said

A letting agent has been fined thousands of pounds after it failed to act when a tenant's bathroom floor came close to collapsing.

Bradford-based Blackhorse Property Holdings Ltd was found to have allowed tenants to live in "dangerous conditions" which could have caused them harm, according to the city council.

As result the firm breached the Housing Act 2004, and at Bradford Magistrates' Court on 13 August it was fined £10,000.

Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw, Bradford Council’s portfolio holder for regeneration, planning and transport, said landlords had a duty of care to their tenants and people's safety was of "utmost importance".

'Enforcement action'

According to the council, environmental health officers from its housing team had first contacted the agent, operating from Thornton Road, in 2022 about the disrepair issues.

The council said Blackhorse was given the opportunity to address the works required, but had "failed to do so".

A further inspection prompted a formal improvement notice, but the property had only "deteriorated further", the authority said.

A prohibition order was then served on the property and the firm was taken to court and subsequently fined.

Mr Ross-Shaw said: "The council will work with and advise landlords and agents on improving rented property, but will not hesitate to take enforcement action where there is non-compliance and tenants are at risk."

The sentencing of Blackhorse was "welcome", he said, adding that it was "a message that the council expects landlords and agents to be professional and take renting and the safety of their tenants very seriously".

A spokesperson for Blackhorse Property Holdings Ltd said the firm was "not managing the property as the landlord did not authorise the work".

"There was work that was required to be done, but the bathroom would not have fallen through," they added.

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