A local landlord has been ordered to pay £14,000 after being prosecuted by Sefton Council for allowing tenants to live in dangerous conditions.

Risk of serious harm

After pleading guilty to the charge of exposing his tenants to "the risk of serious harm" in September, Neil McCann appeared at Sefton Magistrates court in Bootle for sentencing last week.

Council officers inspected the property in Crosby, where Mr McCann lets four flats following a complaint from a tenant. This resulted in McCann being a served a schedule of works. However, a further inspection, in October 2024, showed the improvements had not been started and that conditions at the property had worsened.

Prohibition Order

The Council served a Prohibition Order in respect of one of the flats which had no electricity supply, no working smoke detectors and no front door. The council deemed there to be an imminent risk of serious harm to the health and safety of any occupier or visitor to that flat and as such the landlord should’ve prevented any person from occupying this flat with immediate effect.

Sefton Council served Mr McCann with an improvement notice for the remining parts of the property. It advised the landlord to deal with identified hazards such as the cold conditions due to the lack of fixed heating, a lack of fire protection, damp and mould and structural collapse.

No work carried out

McCann had until early January 2025, to complete the work but a subsequent inspection that month found that and none of the works listed in the improvement notice had been carried out. Also, one of the flats was occupied despite being subject to a prohibition order.

The failure to implement the Improvement Notice and breach of a Prohibition Order meant the case was heard in court and led to Mr Mcann facing the £14,000 fine plus legal costs.

Council will always take action

Sefton Council leader Cllr Marion Atkinson, said: “Once again, this case shows that Sefton Council will always take action against landlords who fail to provide the safe and secure living conditions to which tenants have a right and that they are required by law to provide.

“I hope any other Sefton landlords who are not carrying out their due diligence and meeting their statutory responsibilities will note this case and the substantial fine received, because we will follow up on complaints and take action where improvements are not made.”

Successful prosecution

In February 2025, another Sefton landlord was fined £10,900 for failing to license a rented property after a successful prosecution by Sefton Council.

And in December last year, fines totalling £45,000 were imposed on three housing management companies after the Council brought a number of prosecutions. These included managing or being in control of properties without the required Selective Licence.