Monday August 24th 2026
The Bath Street property was being operated as an unlicensed HMO with four tenants living there
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Drew Sandelands
A company has been accused of “ignoring” Glasgow City Council when it put tenants “at risk” by renting out an unlicensed flat.
The firm, Fang Properties (UK) Ltd, was refused a house in multiple occupation (HMO) licence in March, after councillors heard the Bath Street property was already being let to three or more people who are not related.
After a legal appeal, the case was sent back to Glasgow’s licensing committee. Councillors rejected the application again on Wednesday.
Council officials inspected the flat in June last year after the initial application had been received. They found it was operating as a HMO, with four tenants living there.
A letter was sent to the applicants stating the property “must not be used as a HMO until the licence has been granted”. But tenants were not removed until after the licensing hearing in March this year.
Cllr Alex Wilson, SNP, who chairs the licensing committee, said: “When you received the letter, it should have been ‘oh right, we’ve made a mistake here’.
“Let’s get people out of the property or at least give them a notification to leave, so that we are not running a HMO which is illegal.
“You ignored that basically, until you came to committee.”
A representative for the firm said “hand on my heart, I did not ignore that”.
He also told councillors that the company had taken “immediate steps” to reduce the occupancy after the first hearing.
The representative said it had been a “misunderstanding from our part”, adding it was his first time operating a HMO. “I originally thought that we were compliant.”
The company had carried out repairs highlighted by officials during the inspection. These included hardwiring wall mounted electrical heaters, installing an extra worktop in the kitchen and providing more electrical sockets.
Cllr Wilson said the firm hadn’t ignored the “easy bits”. He added operating without a licence was putting people “at risk”.
The representative said: “We are genuinely sorry for what happened. It was not deliberate, it was a genuine mistake.
“We are committed to operating strictly within Glasgow City Council’s licensing standards.”
Bailie Hanif Raja, Labour, recorded his dissent with the committee’s decision to refuse a licence.
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