A severe warning has been issued to a firm which put over 200 college students “at risk” by running unlicensed flats.
Phoenix Centenary Court Ltd was rebuked by Glasgow licensing chiefs over its ownership of 39 properties at St Luke’s Place and St Luke’s Terrace.
The flats, which are leased to the City of Glasgow College, house more than 200 people and costs start from £136 per week — but licences weren’t kept up to date after a company restructure.
Cllr Alex Wilson, SNP, who chairs the licensing committee, said: “You have in effect left a property unlicensed since 2022, so any students in there, you have put at risk.”
He continued: “Leaving the property unlicensed means if that property had gone on fire you would have been in a lot of trouble.
“Once you have no licence, your insurance is invalid, which means if anything goes wrong with that building, it’s your fault.”
A representative for the firm apologised for the error and said standards or “safety checks” had never been compromised. The committee agreed to grant new licences for a restricted period of one year, rather than three.
Houses in multiple occupation (HMO) licences are needed by landlords who allow their property to be occupied by three or more people who are not related.
A report to the committee stated the flats on the southside of the Clyde had been licensed by another company, owned by the same persons, and new licence applications “were not submitted timeously following the transfer of the development to the current applicant company”.
Cllr Wilson said the council understood the change of ownership had taken place in April 2022. The flats had been bought in 2017 by Phoenix Talent Holdings and licensed under that name.
The representative said: “The shareholders are the exact same of both entities, so although it is a change of ownership, the ultimate parent owners are the exact same.”
Describing the situation as an “administrative oversight”, he added: “We thought the licences were continuing under the existing Phoenix Talent Holdings.”
A council official explained that new applications for the grant of a licence had been required.
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Cllr Wilson said: “It is your job as a licence holder to make sure every i is dotted, every t is crossed and you haven’t done so.
“It’s been explained to you that because of the way you change the ownership etc, you should have updated the licensing section with the new details of the change of structure.”
The representative said the ultimate owners were a Chinese consortium. He said he had already been brought on board to be “more hands on” locally. “This will not be happening on my watch,” he added.
“I’m a bit mortified and I would like to apologise on behalf of the landlord that this administrative error occurred.”
A council official confirmed all safety certification for the properties is up to date.
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