Landlord who left tenants with no hot water fined

Bhupinder Chohan managed two apartment buildings at Laisteridge Student Village

A property boss has been fined £360 after refusing to pay a gas bill which left dozens of students without central heating or hot water for several weeks.

Bhupinder Chohan, 58, managed two apartment buildings at Laisteridge Student Village, near the University of Bradford, in 2021.

The fine came at the end of a court case that had lasted years, cost Bradford Council thousands to prosecute and had 14 separate court listings.

At his sentencing hearing at Bradford Magistrates' Court on Friday, prosecutor Claire Walsh, said: "He continued taking rent from tenants despite providing accommodation with no heating and no hot water."

Bhupinder Chohan ran two apartment complexes in Bradford

In April 2021, the gas to the two buildings, All Saints Hall and Trinity B, was cut off by the utility company due to the non-payment of a bill, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Trinity B had 79 bedrooms and All Saints Hall had 88 bedrooms, although not all were occupied at the time.

Letters were sent to Chohan, of Middlebrook Way, and two property companies he had links to - Hill and Standard plus B&M Properties 1 - ordering the restoration of the gas supply.

In early May, Chohan responded to say "cash flow problems" meant he could not pay the bill.

He said the utility company had dismissed plans to pay the bill gradually and that the company was in the process of selling the two buildings to a new owner.

By 13 May, the gas supply had still not been restored.

At that time 27 people were living in Trinity B and 49 people in All Saints Hall.

Chohan has since been prosecuted and admitted to failing to comply with orders to restore the gas.

Mrs Walsh said: "He continued taking rent from tenants despite providing accommodation with no heating and no hot water.

"Staff were encouraged to take new tenants despite the gas being disconnected."

'Reckless'

Dr John Brown, mitigating, said the issue dated to the Covid pandemic - when it was made illegal to evict tenants, even if they were in arrears.

He said some tenants refused to pay rent, putting the properties in a troubling financial position.

Referring to the lack of gas, he said the electric was still working and people couold shower in a different student block.

He said Chohan made clear to new tenants that there was no gas, adding: "He was not trying to hoodwink people."

Recorder Green, hearing the case, said: "This was reckless as you knew what was going on but chose to bury your head in the sand."

The court was told that both B&M Properties and Chohan had been declared bankrupt earlier this year, and he was currently penniless and lived with his mother and relied on handouts from family.

With Chohan due to start on benefits, the court could only consider the weekly Universal Credit payment of £120.

Guidance said any fine should be three times Chohan's weekly salary, so the fine would amount to just £360.

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