A landlord has been fined £12,500 after being found guilty of running an unlicensed HMO.
Fayez Noor has been ordered to pay the amount at a tribunal after an investigation from Ashford Borough Council found he had been running the illegal HMO above his restaurant.
All 11 bedrooms in his property were occupied with 13 individuals living on the site, including one person sleeping in the restaurant sleeping area on the ground floor.
This was back in 2024, with Noor initially ordered to pay £10,000 and carry out immediate improvement works on the property. He evicted tenants and began complying with the improvement notice.
However, the penalty was not paid and Noor appealed to the First-Tier Tribunal. He missed the appeal date and applied to reinstate the appeal, which was not successful.
On 24 September 2025, the Upper Tribunal upheld the financial penalty notice issued by the council and imposed a higher penalty on Noor of £12,500 under s249A of the Housing Act 2004, for an offence under s72(2). This must be paid within 28 days.
The upper tribunal considered his culpability to be high, with the risk of harm to the tenants and other occupiers of the HMO to be high or very high.
The higher penalty was a reflection of Noor’s failure to admit the offence or fully co-operate.
“Taking legal action against a landlord is the last thing we want to do,” said councillor Noel Ovenden, leader at Ashford Borough Council.
“I hope that this investigation and subsequent outcome helps other landlords who run HMOs in the borough to fully understand the responsibilities they have and to ensure they abide by the rules, for the benefit and safety of their tenants.”
