The council has taken action against 34 landlords for failing to meet additional house in multiple occupation (HMO) licensing laws that were imposed citywide in January 2011.
Courts have handed out a total of £55,834 in fines.
In the most recent case, Mohammed Abbas, of Cowley, admitted six housing standards and licensing offences dating back to May 2012 before Oxford Magistrates’ Court,
The charges included running an unlicensed HMO, failing to protect tenants from injury due to poor conditions and not keeping the property in good decorative order. Abbas also admitted to not providing an electrical safety certificate.
Magistrates heard that the semi-detached property had no fire protection and the front drive was in a poor state of repair.
Environmental health officers with a warrant visited the five-bedroom property last year after the council received a flood of complaints about the property.
Speaking through an interpreter, Abbas, who works for pizza takeaway company, said he was unaware at the time how the HMO licensing system worked.
In his defence, he told the court he had improved the home and applied for a licence, while explaining he would have done so sooner had he understood the council’s HMO rules.
Abbas was fined £1,250 and ordered to pay £300 in prosecution costs and a £15 victim surcharge.
Under Oxford’s HMO licensing laws, homes shared by three to five unrelated tenants need a licence to show they have undergone health and safety inspections.
