Seven Glasgow landlords struck off register, including one who rented out flat with ‘potentially dangerous’ boiler

Another owner dropped from the private landlord register owes a factor more than £60,000 and has racked up a council tax debt of almost £28,500.

And one landlord failed to help a tenant who had no heating or hot water.

Raft of concerns

Ejaz Ali has been struck off after a raft of concerns over his ownership of two properties at 270 Paisley Road West were raised with the council.

The Health and Safety Executive found a gas boiler in flat 0/2 was “poorly installed and maintained” and “potentially dangerous”.

Tenants in one of the homes were “so concerned” about its condition they presented to the council’s homeless casework team while council staff struggled to get information from Mr Ali. On one occasion, his son claimed the flats were empty.

The tenants in flat 2/1 were informed by the council, in August last year, that a rent penalty notice had been issued and they were not obliged to pay the landlord. However, later that month the landlord told the tenants that the issue was sorted and payments should resume.

A council officer said: “No such conversation ever took place between my service and the landlord.”

£60k owed

Cheryl Campbell owes factor Speirs Gumley more than £60,000 for common repairs, which have had to be covered by other tenants.

“This is having a significant negative impact on the factor’s ability to manage the building,” the council officer said.

The landlord, who owns four properties in Mercat Gate Court, on High Street and Walls Street, also has an outstanding council tax bill of almost £28,500. She didn’t provide required information, including on fire safety, building insurance and legionella risk.

More than £10,000 in council tax is owed at her registered home address, however council officers understand this is also rented out and should have formed part of the application.

Licensing committee chairman Alex Wilson said the situation was “deeply worrying”.

“The fact that they’ve also run up these debts and the other properties are having to share the burden, it shows a lack of ownership.”

Bailie Norman MacLeod said: “Whilst we’ve got no direct evidence that this landlord actually collects rent, if they do then that would appear to be the only aspect of being a landlord with which we have any form of reassurance.”

No heating and hot water

A tenant of John Milton, who lets six properties in Glasgow, told the council there was no heating and hot water in their home. The council officer reported the landlord had “failed to address” a request to fix the issue.

“This initiated further investigation and checks were made via the energy performance register and it was found four of the six properties did not have energy performance certificates.”

The landlord was also asked for other information, including on fire and gas safety and carbon monoxide detectors, but the officer told councillors this has not been provided.

No documentation

Clarkston Developments Ltd owns 12 properties in Glasgow and had also been asked to provide information on a range of issues, including fire safety, carbon monoxide detectors and legionella risk assessment.

They had been given time after the last committee meeting to come back with answers but didn’t provide all of the documentation.

The council received two gas safety certificates that had not been signed by an engineer. These couldn’t be checked with the engineer as the company was struck off last month, the council officer said.

A representative for Clarkson Developments accepted there are “serious question marks” but claimed the firm takes its “responsibilities seriously” and was working on getting all the documents.

Cllr Wilson said: “This isn’t acceptable when we’re dealing with people’s lives here, we’ve got certification that isn’t up to date. You’ve had more than ample time to get this.”

Lack of certificates

James Duffy, who owns 29 properties across the city, was asked to provide certificates for 12 flats in Ibrox and Cessnock but failed to do so.

These included gas, electrical and fire safety paperwork, portable appliance testing, energy performance documents, legionella risk assessments and building insurance.

The council officer said Mr Duffy claimed the properties had either been sold or were being repossessed, but council tax checks found eight of the 12 were owned by the landlord and let to tenants.

Rasham Singh, who owns a flat on Harley Street, was struck off after also failing to provide a number of certificates, while another landlord was found to have previously been blocked from joining the register.