Council serve notice on landlord to remove tenants rubbish – Help

Council serve notice on landlord to remove tenants rubbish – Help

9:26 AM, 18th January 2017, About 7 years ago 14

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I have been served with a notice under the Prevention of damage by Pests Act 1949 by the local council requiring me to remove rubbish from the rear yard of a property that is currently occupied by my tenant.rubbish

My issue is that the Council have served the notice on me and not on the tenant who is responsible for putting the rubbish in the yard and the fact that the Council could have just as easily found out the tenants name and served the notice on them. The notice requires me to remove the rubbish within 7 days, disinfect the area and take action to prevent a recurrence.if i do not remove the rubbish within 7 days then the Council will do so and charge me.

I have spoken to the Council and they say that under the Act they have total discretion on who to serve the Notice and it is their policy not to pursue the occupier of the property,(even if they know it is them who are responsible), if there is a landlord they can serve the notice on, they accepted that they knew it was the tenant who would have put the rubbish in the yard and not me yet they chose to serve the notice on me.

This seems unfair and the Council taking the easy way out as usual, does anyone know if the Council have a duty to investigate who is responsible for the rubbish and to take action against them or can they just go after the landlord as they claim.

I am also concerned that having a formal notice served against my name could go against me in the future if, for example, the Council introduced licencing and required me to prove I am a fit and proper person to hold a licence.

Michael


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Comments

Luke P

21:45 PM, 24th January 2017, About 7 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Michael Ashworth" at "24/01/2017 - 20:05":

I'm not at my desk as of writing, but I imagine it will be something similar. The tenant has a level of ownership over the property. Perhaps if they are unable to locate the tenant, it may revert to the landlord as in my case, but I can't see why they can't 'find' the tenant.

You could always ignore, let them do it, bill you, not pay, then have your day in Court/Tribunal asking the same sorts of questions as to why they haven't attempted to retrieve payment from the tenant...

Michael Ashworth

22:04 PM, 24th January 2017, About 7 years ago

Thanks. I have got the tenant to remove the rubbish now but I am just annoyed that the council served the notice on me and I want to take it further with them rather than just allowing them to come after me instead of them doing what they should do but I want to be sure of my ground before I take them on

Luke P

11:14 AM, 25th January 2017, About 7 years ago

From what I have read, there almost certainly needs to be evidence of rats. Mice (unless a clear infestation) are often considered to be in their natural habitat within a garden -whether well kept or otherwise.

To some degree it will depend on the type of rubbish. If it's household/food waste then they will have a good case. An old wardrobe, dining table and washing machine...not so much.

Unless you fight them, they will continue to throw their weight around.

Michael Ashworth

14:26 PM, 25th January 2017, About 7 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Luke P" at "25/01/2017 - 11:14":

Thanks for that I intend to tackle them on this

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