A man has been banned from letting any home in England and from any English letting agency or property management work for three years.

Almas Rashid, 39, of Doncaster, is thought to be the first to be banned in the north of England, and only the third to be banned anywhere in the country since the order came into effect in April 2018.

The ban takes effect from February 14.

If it is breached, penalties can include imprisonment for up to 51 weeks or a court fine, or both, or a civil financial penalty of up to £30,000.

The successful Doncaster Council application to ban Rashid followed a string of prosecutions in January this year for constantly failing to comply with improvement notices, not obtaining an HMO licence and breaches of the HMO Management Regulations in respect of two multiple occupied houses.

Rashid pleaded guilty to seven offences under the Housing Act 2004 and was ordered to pay £400 per offence, £2,800 in total. He also had to pay costs of £2,579 and a £40 victim surcharge.

Cllr Chris McGuinness, Doncaster cabinet member for communities, the voluntary sector and environment, said: “The granting of this banning order sends out a clear message to all rogue landlords that our housing enforcement team are at the cutting edge of enforcement.

“When tenants are put at risk through the actions or lack of action by a landlord, we will clamp down by using all the enforcement tools at our disposal.”