A rogue landlord has been fined £40,000 for failures that left tenants’ properties in poor and unsafe conditions.

Durham County Council took legal action against Carter Property Services in Sedgefield, responsible for 300 properties, owned by portfolio landlord Glyn Carter, 59.

It followed multiple reports of its Selective Licence not being followed.

The council’s Selective Licensing scheme requires landlords to comply with various conditions to ensure private rental properties are maintained to a safe standard.

The property in Peterlee where three men were found sleeping on the floor among a mountain of rubbish.

placeholder image — The property in Peterlee where three men were found sleeping on the floor among a mountain of rubbish.

But Peterlee Magistrates Court heard that 13 conditions of the licence had been breached across eight properties in Shotton, South Hetton, Blackhall Colliery, Peterlee and Seaham.

One condition is to carry out inspections on properties every six months.

But one property in Shotton had not been inspected in four years the tenant had lived there.

Magistrates also heard of a property in Peterlee where paramedics reported three adults living there and who had been sleeping on the

floor surrounded by a mountain of waste which included dead rats and mice.

The house was described as being caked in faeces and urine.

Council officers also told the court that Carter had failed to provide a valid gas safety certificate, which must be submitted annually, for four of the properties.

Carter Property Services was found guilty of 13 breaches of its Selective Licence.

The company was fined £40,000, and ordered to pay £500 costs and a £2,000 victim surcharge.

Tony Hanson, of Durham County Council, said: “This case demonstrates how we will use our powers within the Selective Licensing scheme to take effective enforcement against landlords who are not maintaining their properties and putting their tenants at risk.”