A management company which failed to meet its legal responsibilities left tenants living in dirty and unsafe conditions.
The six-bedroom House of Multiple Occupation (HMO) on Bath Road, Slough, first came to the council’s attention in June 2023 after reports from police about anti-social behaviour and drug use.
The council’s housing regulation team inspected the property and found it to be dirty, the smoke alarm in the kitchen was silenced and had a sock covering it, the oven did not work and repairs were not being carried out, bicycles and other items were left in communal areas and fire escape routes and the lock on the front door was being repeatedly broken, allowing access to the property from non-residents and adding to the anti-social behaviour.
The property was being managed by London-based AM PM Estates, on behalf of the owner. The company told the council they were making regular inspections and responding to reports of disrepair, but every time the council visited, the conditions were the same.
Inspections between May and August 2023 found no improvement, other than to fix the front door lock and reset the fire alarm.
In total there were 10 separate offences under The Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006.
The offences were:
- Failing to keep means of escape from fire clear from obstructions.
- Failing to ensure that any firefighting equipment and fire alarms are maintained in good working order.
- Failing to ensure that all notices indicating the location of means of escape from fire are displayed.
- Failing to ensure that all common parts of the HMO are maintained in good and clean decorative repair.
- Failing to ensure that all common parts of the HMO are kept reasonably clear from obstruction.
- Failing to ensure that all handrails and banisters are at all times kept in good repair.
- Failing to ensure that fixtures, fittings or appliances are maintained in good and safe repair and in clean working order.
- Failing to ensure that the garden is kept in a safe and tidy condition.
- Failing to ensure each room is maintained in good repair.
- Failing to ensure that any fixtures, fittings or appliances within the rooms are maintained in good repair and in clean working order.
On 14 March 2024, AM PM Estates were issued a Civil Financial Penalty for each of the 10 offences which totalled £77,925. They appealed the amount of the penalty to the First Tier Property Tribunal, and this was heard on 29 May 2025, with the tribunal verdict issued on 17 June 2025.
The tribunal reduced the fine to £66,550 as they felt that the amount of harm attributed to the kitchen appliances not working was calculated too high.
Councillor Ejaz Ahmed, lead member for Communities, Sport, Leisure and Public Protection, said: “During the investigation, this company was given numerous opportunities to take steps to bring the property back into compliance with the management regulations, but failed to do so.
“They failed to provide the service they were legally responsible for, leaving tenants living in poor and unsafe conditions. They now must pay a hefty penalty, which I hope will teach them a lesson and ensure they fulfil the service landlords pay them to do in future.”
The last inspection on 31 July 2024 found all necessary repairs had been carried out. The property is no longer managed by this company.