Unlawful landlord fined £64,000 for unlawfully transforming six flats into 11 residences. – TNT

A landlord has been issued with significant fine after illegally turning six flats into 11 separate homes.

Mohammed Abdul Kowsor Choudhury, from Cyncoed, and his company, Pine Best Ltd, were fined a total of £54,000, and ordered to pay a further £10,000 in costs, when the case was heard at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court.

The rented property, 173 City Road, is a three storey Victorian property with planning consent for six self-contained flats – not the total of 11 self-contained flats found at the property. Rents for each flat were around £600 a month.

Prosecutions relating to this property date back to March 2018 when officers from Shared Regulatory Services visited and discovered 11 flats.

An emergency prohibition order was made for each flat due to the extremely poor fire safety precautions, which meant that the properties could no longer be occupied as they were deemed to be unsafe.

In 2019, South Wales Fire & Rescue Service prosecuted Choudhury for failure to comply with an enforcement notice to carry out essential work on the flats. He was fined £50,000, ordered to pay £10,000 in costs, and was given a suspended prison sentence.

In October 2022, reports were received that the flats were being rented out again and the works required by the emergency prohibition orders had not been carried out.

A further investigation was launched followed by several hearings in court.

Finally Choudhury and his company pleaded guilty to all the offences in July 2024 and the case was finally heard at Cardiff Magistrates’, where district judge Christopher James described Choudhury as “flagrantly and deliberately ignoring legislation and legal requirement in relation to these properties”.

Cllr Lynda Thorne, Cardiff Council cabinet member for housing and communities, said: “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.

“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.”