Durham County Council has secured a £28,500 court order against a County Durham landlord after a mother, newborn baby and disabled child were left without heating or hot water in a damp and mould-affected home.
Peterlee Magistrates’ Court fined Kristoffer Jon Dalziel £26,000 after finding him guilty over failures at a property in Annfield Plain and two licensing breaches. The total also includes £500 costs and a £2,000 victim surcharge, according to the council’s newly published account of the case.
The case gives landlords a clear warning as enforcement teams focus on repair records, access arrangements and selective-licensing duties: an initial promise to carry out work will not protect an owner who does not complete it by the notice deadline.
Durham court heard of heating and safety failures
Durham said its selective licensing team first inspected the property in December 2025 after the household reported that its boiler had failed. Officers identified problems including damp and mould, while later formal action listed excess cold, carbon monoxide and electrical hazards.
The council said the landlord was initially given an opportunity to address the defects. After a February 2026 inspection found that no repairs had been completed, it served a Housing Act 2004 improvement notice requiring the heating repair by late March and remaining work by April.
At a further inspection in late March, the works were still outstanding. The court heard that Dalziel had not visited the property after purchasing it apart from the original viewing. The council also said the home and two other properties in Stanley did not have the required selective licences.
The case was brought under a scheme introduced in April 2022, rather than a new England-wide rule. That distinction matters: landlords with property in County Durham should check the current scheme boundary and licence position rather than assuming that compliance in a neighbouring authority is enough.
Selective licensing adds a separate risk
The £26,000 fine was made up of three £7,000 penalties relating to the unlicensed properties and a £5,000 penalty for breaching the improvement notice. The outcome shows how licensing and property-condition enforcement can run alongside each other when a council finds more than one issue.
Ted Murphy, building safety and standards manager at Durham County Council, said the lack of action was shocking and that selective licensing can help authorities act against landlords who put tenants at risk. The council’s full prosecution report sets out the hazards, the notice timetable and the penalties imposed.
This follows Landlord Knowledge’s report on County Durham’s wider landlord licensing plans, which examined possible further controls from 2027. The latest prosecution concerns the existing Stanley scheme and shows the immediate exposure for owners who miss its requirements.
Landlords can also compare the result with Landlord Knowledge’s coverage of a £8,652 Chesterfield penalty over a fixed-term tenancy. Different facts led to that case, but both outcomes show councils using individual enforcement powers rather than waiting for national reforms to take effect.
What this means for landlords
- If you receive an improvement notice: record access attempts, contractor instructions and completed work, and obtain advice early if a deadline cannot be met.
- Check local rules: confirm whether every rental home falls inside a selective-licensing area and whether a licence is in place before enforcement begins.
- Bottom line: heating, damp, mould, carbon monoxide and electrical hazards can lead to action on several fronts where repairs are not completed.
Editor’s view
Cases involving dangerous conditions rightly attract attention, but the practical lesson is wider than the headline penalty. A repair plan needs dates, evidence and follow-through – especially where licensing applies and a council is already involved.
Author: Editorial Team – UK landlord & buy-to-let news, policy, and finance
Published: 12 October 2026
Sources: Durham County Council
Related reading: County Durham weighs broader landlord licensing from 2027
