AN OXFORD landlord has been prosecuted a second time for renting out an illegally unsafe house after the kitchen ceiling collapsed.

Jeffeth Juniour Latchman admitted seven charges relating to the house in Gaisford Road, Cowley, when he appeared at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

An inspector for Oxford City Council said the home was in a “serious state of disrepair” when he visited in September last year.

Smoke detectors were not working and the kitchen ceiling had been damaged from a leak in the first floor bathroom, he said.

Two months later, one of the tenants contacted the council to say the ceiling had finally collapsed.

A council officer visited and confirmed the report and said the tenants were having to use a bathroom in the house next door.

The same officers also said there were items strewn along fire escape routes making a quick exit from the property difficult, and the front and bedroom doors could not be opened from inside without the use of a key.

The officer concluded: “The property was in a poor state of cleanliness throughout and some of the facilities in the kitchen were damaged.” He also said Latchman did not provide a copy of the gas safety certificate when asked for it.

The 49-year-old of Lower Road, Garsington, was previously convicted of being in control of an unlicensed house in multiple occupation (HMO) in Nowell Road, Rose Hill, in January, when he was fined £4,500.

He admitted seven charges of failing to comply with the regulations in respect of management of an HMO, was fined a total of £6,000 and ordered to pay £1,555 of the council’s legal costs and a £100 victims’ surcharge.

City council board member for housing Scott Seamons said: “Landlords of HMOs have a legal duty to manage their properties and keep them in good repair.”

The council is currently consulting on a new licensing scheme to improve standards in HMOs.