Council wins landmark court case against rogue landlord

City of Wolverhampton Council has won a landmark court case against a rogue landlord in the private sector.

Wolverhampton Magistrates Court
Wolverhampton Magistrates Court

Jaspal Singh Sahota, of Blackpool, yesterday (Thursday 7 April, 2016) became the first landlord in the country to be issued with a Criminal Behaviour Order, which will span 10 years.

The ruling was made by Wolverhampton Magistrates’ Court being satisfied that Mr Sahota was causing harassment, alarm and distress to his tenants through the poor standards and management of his privately rented properties in the city.

Lesley Roberts, City of Wolverhampton Council Strategic Director for Housing, said: “This is an excellent result and shows that we are determined to use whatever legislation we can in order to protect our residents from rogue landlords.

“We are incredibly proud of the work our housing officers do to ensure housing standards are maintained across the board.

“As a council we have a wide package of housing measures in place aimed at improving standards across Wolverhampton and this case illustrates them being put into action.”

The case was built around Mr Sahota’s properties in Osier Place and Sherwood Street – but also considered his management of his other Wolverhampton properties.

The order requires him to instate a third party agent to manage his properties on his behalf, and he must submit to the council a list of all his properties and his interest in them for rental purposes.

If Mr Sahota does not comply with the order, including having a suitable managing agent in place by 1 June, 2016, he will be in breach of the order, and could be imprisoned for up to 5 years and/or face an unlimited fine.

Phil Bateman

Phil Bateman is Married to Mary and lives in Wednesfield North. He was a long serving local politician having served previously on the now defunct West Midlands County Council... read more

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