Newquay Slum Landlord Fined for HMO Licence Regulations

Newquay landlord Miss Amanda de Gonville Morrison was fined just £250 + a £15 victim surcharge in Bodmin Magistrates Court for a raft of offences in connection with her property at 3 St Mary’s Road, Newquay, which is a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO).

Miss De Gonville was convicted of 13 separate offences in total, including:

  • failing to comply with the conditions of the House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licence for her property at 3 St Marys Road, Newquay
  • breaches of the HMO Management Regulations
  • failing to provide required documents and obstructing a Cornwall Council officer from carrying out their inspection.

She was proven to have failed to supply and maintain safety measures at the property including:

  • adequate fire alarms
  • fire doors
  • emergency escape lighting
  • other precautionary facilities.
  • Additionally she could not provide certificates confirming the integrity of the electrical installation.

The maximum Miss Amanda de Gonville Morrison could have been charged for all the offences was £62,500, but the magistrates took into account:

  • her financial position
  • ill health
  • her impending bankruptcy
  • the impending repossession of the property at 3 St Mary’s Road, Newquay

Further to the above, she also failed to declare to Cornwall County Council that she already had a conviction from 16 June 2008, by Gloucester City Council, for operating a licensable HMO without a licence – this had implications on her “fit and proper” status, which is necessary to hold an HMO licence.

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