'Threatening' landlord's flats have still been let

Mark Fortune failed to get on the list of fit and proper landlords in 2013

Flats owned by a man who was refused entry to Scotland's landlord register have been let out for residential use under the guise of holiday lets.

Mark Fortune failed to get on the list of fit and proper landlords in 2013 after threatening his tenants.

But rooms in his Edinburgh flats are being let out under contracts which do not give tenants the same protection as residential agreements.

The millionaire property tycoon denied that he rents out flats.

Mr Fortune said the properties are operated by limited companies, not him personally.

Former tenants have told BBC Scotland that they were given monthly holiday let contracts to sign, despite making clear they were in Edinburgh to live and work.

People who have lived in properties owned by Mr Fortune have shared evidence of poor maintenance standards, such as damp, broken windows and faulty wiring, and some claim to have not had their deposit returned when they moved out.

One couple said they were asked to leave a flat owned by Mr Fortune during the Covid pandemic after requesting that some repairs be made to the property.

Gergely Farkas and Hailey La Sarre said the flat they lived in had a number of issues

Hailey La Sarre and Gergely Farkas moved into a flatshare in Edinburgh in October last year.

The flat is owned by Mr Fortune and their contract was with Edinburgh Rent Limited. Companies House has Mr Fortune listed as its sole director and the person with significant control.

Hailey and Gergely said the flat had a number of issues, including a broken skylight and faulty electrics.

When they raised the problems, they were told that they would have to leave the property.

"Your heart sinks," said Hailey.

"What are you supposed to do? You don't expect that. You ask for a simple fix and they say get out."

A damaged skylight in the property where Hailey and Gergely lived

Edinburgh Rent told the couple their holiday let contract was not being renewed, but Hailey said this was not their understanding of the deal when they found the room listed on the flatmate-finder website Spare Room.

She said: "On their listing online it said that it was long-term lets, implying that we could stay as long as we want."

Ex-tenants group

A group called Mark Fortune Investigation (MFI) said it had been contacted by more than 40 former tenants in flats operated by the businessman's companies.

MFI said these people had shared accounts of the flats being in a poor state of repair with issues such as faulty boilers and damp.

The group also claimed the majority of ex-tenants who contacted them did not get their deposit back when they moved out.

Alessandro Carosi, a spokesman for MFI, said he failed to get his deposit back from a long-term stay in an Edinburgh flat owned by Mr Fortune.

He said people had been contacting the MFI group because they wanted their voices to be heard.

Alessandro Carosi said MFI want better enforcement of the existing housing laws in place to protect tenants

"The majority are foreigners like me," said Mr Carosi.

"A lot of them just move to Edinburgh and they cannot afford more expensive flats."

He said the people contacting MFI had been renting flats under holiday let contracts but living there for a long time.

"That is how Mark Fortune is making his fortune with people on minimum wages or foreigners who just arrive and don't know the rules or the laws," he said.

One of the Edinburgh city centre streets where Mr Fortune owns property

Mr Fortune is thought to own scores of flats across Edinburgh and is no stranger to controversy.

In 2013, he was refused entry to Scotland's landlord register after being convicted of offences directly relating to his letting business, including threatening tenants.

Edinburgh City Council said Mr Fortune last applied to join the landlord register in 2018 and this was refused.

Mr Fortune told BBC Scotland this application was made in 2015 and that he withdrew it in 2018.

Mr Fortune is listed at Companies House as the only director of a company called Edinburgh Holiday and Party Lets (EHPL).

Last year part of a housing tribunal ruling said that a person living in a flat operated by EHPL was doing so on a private residential tenancy and not a holiday let agreement.

It pointed out the person was living and working in Edinburgh and had lived in the property for seven months.

The ruling stated: "The agreement signed by the parties states that it is a holiday let. However, the evidence clearly establishes that it was not."

'Null and void'

The ruling goes on to say that EHPL "appears to have called the tenancy agreement a holiday let in an attempt to avoid security of tenure and the requirement to serve proper notice and apply to the tribunal for an eviction order".

BBC Scotland showed one of the "holiday let" agreements used by one of Mr Fortune's firms to Catherine McQuarrie, a residential tenancy law specialist at TC Young Solicitors.

She pointed out a number of problems with the one-page contract, which quoted legislation that had been superseded.

She said: "It's quite clear from the wording of the document that the person using this is attempting to get out of complying with the legislation that would otherwise apply to protect the tenant.

"Essentially you can't have a holiday let if you're not on holiday. It's as simple as that.

"That simply means that the agreement is null and void and instead the parties have a private residential tenancy agreement."

Holiday lets are exempt from tenant protections such as the landlord registration scheme and putting deposits into third-party protection schemes.

'I do not operate as a landlord'

Mr Fortune told BBC Scotland he was not banned from the landlord register but that a decision was taken to not place his name on the list of Scotland's approved landlords.

He added: "I do not operate as a landlord, any properties both residential or commercial are operated by limited companies having been granted a licence by myself which allows commercial subletting.

"All deposits that were due for refund have, I'm advised, been refunded."

Mr Fortune said the complaints raised represent a "very small percentage of overall residents" of the 160 properties he says he owns.

This issue was also covered by The Ferret investigative news website.