[kirklancaster]

Landlord fined a whopping £31k over 'noisy pigeons'
By Josh Hall

A landlord has been ordered to pay over £31,000 after failing to deal with ‘noisy pigeons’ in one of their properties.

A court ordered the London landlord to pay £31,026, including £7,638 of compensation, after tenants were woken at 4am daily by cooing pigeons nesting in the loft.

In addition to the pigeons, the officer found a water leak in their second-floor Kilburn flat.

Following the inspection the landlord was served with an improvement notice. But Adilsons Property Limited, the landlord, was found to have failed to comply.

The company received a fine of £12,200, and ordered to pay costs of £5,648. A victim surcharge of £170 was added, plus additional fines and victim compensation.

Reacting to the verdict, a Brent Council representative said: “Landlords are expected to maintain the properties they rent out. Tenants in the private rented sector have a legal right to live in decent conditions.

“We will prosecute landlords and letting agencies that fail to comply with improvement notices. This landlord had plenty of opportunities to carry out the repairs but ignored our requests.”

The Brent case comes in the midst of renewed calls for a crackdown on so-called ‘rogue landlords’.

In December, the government said that it was considering new measures to regulate landlords who let properties to five or more people, under a scheme that would stipulate the maximum number of people who could occupy a room.

Labour has also indicated that it would further regulate the private rented sector, including by giving tenants broader rights to fight eviction.

What do you think? Is the pigeon fine reasonable or ridiculous?