A LANDLORD has been fined more than £10,000 after failing to meet housing laws for a second time.

Stephen Roberts, pleaded guilty to three charges involving 20A Bath Street in Southampton which he owns and which is a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO).

The 56-year-old from Eastleigh was fined £4,000 for failing to licence the property, which had three people living in it, and a further £2,000 for failing to produce a valid electrical safety certificate.

He was also forced to to pay £3,300 for failing to maintain the smoke alarms in the premises and the court awarded £600 costs to the authority as well as a victim surcharge of £400.

In total Roberts had to pay out £10,300 after appearing at West Hampshire Magistrates Court.

The owner had previously been prosecuted following a council visit in February 2015, where it was found that the same property was an unlicensed HMO occupied by three people.

The house is still being used as a HMO but an application has now been submitted and is being considered, the court heard.

In 2013, Southampton City Council launched its HMO licensing scheme in the Bargate, Bevois, Portswood and Swaythling wards and has since rolled it out in Bassett, Freemantle, Millbrook and Swaythling.

The scheme has been designed to crackdown on rogue landlords by requiring all HMO owners to licence their properties and pay a fee to the council so inspections can be carried out.

If they break the rules landlords can be fined up to £20,000 as well as being forced to pay back tenants up to three months in rent.

Cllr Warwick Payne, cabinet member for housing and sustainability at Southampton City Council, said: “The council will continue to deal robustly with landlords who fail to apply for a licence and those who let unsafe homes.

"At the same time we want to work with responsible landlords by helping them comply with the rules, as they provide a valuable service for the city.”