A CARDIFF landlord has been ordered to pay £64,000 after illegally converting a Victorian property into dangerous flats with poor fire safety measures.
Mohammed Abdul Kowsor Choudhury from Cyncoed and his company Pine Best Ltd appeared at Cardiff Magistrates' Court last week, where they were fined £54,000 and ordered to pay £10,000 in costs, reported Wales Online.
The three-storey Victorian building had planning permission for six self-contained flats, but council officers discovered 11 separate flats when they visited in March 2018. Each flat was being rented for around £600 per month.
The Shared Regulatory Services team found extremely poor fire safety conditions throughout the property. Emergency prohibition orders were immediately issued for all 11 flats, making them too dangerous for people to live in.
Serious safety problems included gaps around doors that would allow fire to spread quickly and unsealed holes where pipes passed through ceilings, which could let deadly smoke travel between floors.
According to the report, this was not Choudhury's first offence at the property. In 2019, South Wales Fire & Rescue Service took him to court for failing to carry out essential safety work. He was fined £50,000, ordered to pay £10,000 costs, and given a suspended prison sentence.
Despite these penalties, reports came in during October 2022 that the flats were being rented out again without the required safety improvements being completed.
District Judge Christopher James described Choudhury's business as "a vehicle created by the defendant for the purpose of presenting an enterprise of legitimacy" and called the company's financial records "questionable".
The judge said Choudhury had deliberately ignored enforcement notices to "gain profit from people that were desperate for housing". He described the landlord as "flagrantly and deliberately ignoring legislation and legal requirement in relation to these properties".
The court heard that Choudhury had previous convictions for theft, dishonesty and assault, and had continued renting out flats as they became empty.
Councillor Lynda Thorne, Cardiff council's cabinet member for housing and communities, welcomed the court's decision.
"This property has been a significant concern for many years now and hopefully Mr Choudhury now understands what he has to do to ensure that he can rent his property out legally in line with all legislation required," she said.
"The majority of private sector landlords provide a good service to their tenants but unfortunately there are some that don't have any regard at all. Unfortunately it's landlords like Mr Choudhury who, as the judge said, flagrantly ignore legislation and bring the sector into disrepute."
