Landlords pay £27,500 for ‘severe’ fire safety breaches

Two private residential landlords have been found guilty of breaching fire safety regulations and fined £23,000.

Fiaz Mahmmud, 48, and Audrey Feegrado, 39, were each found guilty of five breaches of the Housing (Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation) Regulations 2006 at a house in French Horn Lane, Hatfield, after pleading not guilty to the offences at Watford magistrates court.

The defendants were each fined £11,500, ordered to pay £2,225 each towards the council’s costs.

The pair were found guilty of failing to ensure that all means of escape from fire were free from obstruction; failing to ensure that all means of escape were maintained in good order; failing to ensure that any fire fighting equipment and fire alarms were maintained in good working order; failing to take measures to protect the occupiers from injury; and failing to ensure that all the common parts of the house were maintained in good and clean decorative repair.

Michel Saminaden, Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council chief executive said:

“These severe breaches of fire safety regulations could have resulted in fatalities. It is something that this council, as the responsible authority for private sector housing, takes very seriously and we are working hard to ensure that high standards are maintained to ensure the safety of our residents.”