Sheffield County Council v Hussain (2020)

Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber), [2020] UKUT 292 (LC), 28 October 2020

This case relates to the amount of civil penalty imposed for breaches of the House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) Management Regulations 2006 and whether the remedial works carried out after the date of offence are relevant to the seriousness of the offence and whether the compliant works carried out amounted to mitigation.

Mr Hussain was served with improvement notices by Sheffield Council in 2018. Civil penalties were imposed relating to fire safety, defective heating, electrical safety, poorly fitted windows and defective handrails on staircases. There were two interconnected HMOs in one building and the penalties totalled £75,000.

The council took into account culpability and track record, level of harm to potential occupiers, mitigating circumstances and final adjustments to ensure the penalty was fair. Level of harm to occupiers was considered to be medium level. There had been assurances from Mr Hussain that property would be brought up to standard.