The landlord of a Salford property which had been converted into 5 self contained flats plus a ground floor flat without a bathroom and a basement flat with its own entrance has been convicted of 2 housing offences by magistrates. He did not attend court and was fined £20,000 plus £4,700 costs and a £181 victim surcharge. Salford council prosecuted him for failing to comply with an improvement notice and breaching an emergency prohibition order.

On visiting the property, housing officers found that fire detection systems and escape routes were still unsafe 3 years after improvements had been ordered to be made. Despite the landlord having been prohibited from letting out the flats until improvements had been made the housing officers found that, at the time they visited, every flat was let and occupied. Gas and electricity meters had also been bypassed and the utility companies cut off supply leaving the building without power for cooking, lighting and bathing. The tenants were rehoused in 2017. The property was visited again in 2019 and housing officers found that the flats had been relet but the fire safety problems had not been dealt with and the tenants were found not to have been aware of the prohibition order being in place. In addition, although the electricity meter was now legitimate, the landlord had not provided certification for it. He was twice invited by the council for an interview but failed to attend.

Cllr. Tracey Kelly, Salford deputy city mayor and lead member for housing said "the council will continue to monitor the property and would not hesitate to take further action if it was relet without the work being completed." and stressed that fire safety measures were there to protect people's lives and cannot be ignored by landlords at the risk of people's lives.