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The article below is from Property Industry Eye
Written by Rosalind Renshaw, 9th Sept 2014:

Landlord hit with £58k bill after no gas safety certificate

A landlord has been hit with a £58,000 bill after he ignored repeated warnings about arranging an annual gas safety check.

Tariq Ali was given numerous opportunities by the Health and Safety Executive to arrange an inspection for a property in Accrington after the previous gas safety record expired in October 2012.

Trafford Magistrates' Court heard that Ali first came to the attention of the Gas Safe Register - the official body for gas engineers - in 2011 after gas appliances at several of his properties were classified as being either "at risk" or "immediately dangerous".

This was apparently despite the fact that the property had a valid gas safety certificate at the time.

He was served with an improvement notice relating to the property on September 12, 2013, giving him one month to arrange an annual gas safety check. However, he failed to meet the deadline.

Ali was fined £40,000 and ordered to pay £18,054 in prosecution costs after pleading guilty to breaches of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 and the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

The charges relate to failing to have the gas appliances checked annually, and failing to comply with an improvement notice.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Stuart Kitchingman said: "Mr Ali put his tenants' lives at risk for financial gain by failing to arrange a gas safety check for nearly two years."

"We gave him several chances to organise an inspection, but he ignored all of these - including a formal improvement notice."

"We therefore had no choice but to take legal action."

"Dozens of people are killed or badly harmed every year from carbon monoxide poisoning, so it is vital that landlords take the risks seriously."

"We will continue to prosecute landlords who think the law doesn't apply to them."

Published on 11 September 2014