Central: Landlord fined over property in disrepair

 The owner of an empty property on Burnley Rd in Accrington has been taken to court and ordered to pay £1290 in fines and costs for allowing it to fall into disrepair.

Council officers visited the property, which had been empty since 2010, after receiving complaints about its neglected state and found that it had been broken in to and severely vandalised.

After hiring a locksmith to secure the building, officers set about tracing the owner, Mr Mark R Brennan. Officers wrote to Mr Brennan on several occasions asking him to carry out works to repair to the property. However Mr Brennan failed to carry out the works as requested and therefore the Council had no option but to serve a notice requiring the roof to be repaired, new gutters to be fitted, new windows and doors and the removal of all waste materials in the yard areas.

Cllr Clare Cleary, Cabinet Member for empty properties, said; “We gave the owner of this property ample opportunity to bring this property into a state of repair, however, despite several requests and being given extra time to comply with the notice the work was not completed.  This left the Council no choice but to issue a notice ordering the work to be carried out.  Empty properties can often cause a nuisance for neighbours as they are unsightly and can become the focus of anti- social behaviour and we will always take owners to court where they refuse to bring their properties into good repair.”

The case was taken to Hyndburn’s Magistrates court on the 29/1/2015 and Mr Brennan was found guilty in his absence of failing to comply with the notice. He was fined £400 +40 Victims surcharge and ordered to pay £850.00 costs to the Council.