A LANDLORD has been fined £4,500 for renting out a house in Oxford that was unlicensed and unsafe.

Jeffeth Junior Latchman, of Lower Road, Garsington, pleaded guilty at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on Monday to being in control of an unlicensed house in multiple occupation (HMO) in Nowell Road, Rose Hill.

The 49-year-old also pleaded guilty to five breaches of the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006.

Three of the offences were failing to ensure that adequate safety measures were taken in the property, including a broken fire alarm system, an obstructed means of escape if there was a fire and a lack of fire resistant doors.

Two further offences were for disrepair.

He was fined £2,000 for failing to have an HMO licence and £500 for each of the other offences.

The court also ordered Latchman to pay Oxford City Council’s costs of £815 for bringing the case to court.

He was prosecuted after a tenant raised concerns with the city council’s HMO enforcement team in August.

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