Two landlords in Cardiff have been handed hefty fines for renting out dangerous properties that lacked basic fire safety measures.
Rowshanara Begum let out her two bed Victorian property with no fire alarms, defective fire doors and unsafe electrical installations.
Inspectors paid the property a visit after a tenant made a complaint, and found that it had been turned into four self-contained flats, where there was no escape route for the inner rooms in the building, unsafe kitchens, dirty carpets, damp, unprotected electricity meters and unsafe windows.
She then ignored improvement notices.
Begum was fined £20,000, as well as ordered to pay £1,000 in costs and a £2,000 victim surcharge by Cardiff Magistrates’ Court.
The other landlord, Lawford Cunningham, rented a property with a defective fire alarm, dangerous electrics, as well as a poorly-maintained communal escape route.
An inspector discovered an accumulation of waste in the front and rear yards of the property, damaged kitchen worktops and defective and damaged floor coverings.
Cunningham was fined £3,000, as well as having to pay costs of £1,371.
Councillor Lynda Thorne, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, said: “We want to ensure all residents have access to safe and secure housing. We will not hesitate to take action against landlords who fail to meet their responsibilities.”
