Friday October 2nd 2026
Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow, where a property has lost its HMO licence following fire safety concerns.
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Drew Sandelands
A Glasgow landlord has lost their licence after renting out a property despite firefighters identifying “substantial deficiencies”.
An inspection of the Sauchiehall Street flat found a series of issues, including not all fire doors closing within their frames and extraction fans “covered with dust or grease”.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service refused to sign off an application from Anna McMullan to renew a HMO (house in multiple occupation) licence — which is needed when a property is let out to three or more people who are not related.
Glasgow’s licensing committee turned down the application at a meeting yesterday (Wednesday). Cllr Alex Wilson, SNP, the committee chair, said there is “still a substantial fire risk within the property”.
Speaking to a letting agent, who was representing the landlord, he said: “If there’s a fire in the property, it’s already been highlighted by Scottish Fire and Rescue that the property is not safe.
“You’ve put tenants into a property that’s not safe.”
The committee heard five rooms in the property are let out to five people. It was inspected in February by the council’s HMO team and Scottish Fire and Rescue.
During that initial visit, fire service staff found no fire safety information was provided to tenants, not all fire doors closed within their frames and the “means of escape throughout the hallways was compromised due to the storage of various items such as clothes dryers”.
Candles and door wedges were noted in the property as well as coat hangers on the back of fire doors, councillors were told. They also heard extraction fans “showed signs of not being subject to regular maintenance” and there was “excess storage of combustible materials in the utility room and shower room”.
An electrical installation condition report was not provided and holes in walls and ceilings were reported.
A second audit last month found that extraction fans were “covered with dust or grease”, not all fire doors closed within their frames and there were “excessive gaps” around the bottom of doors. Holes in walls and ceilings were also reported.
The letting agent said several quotes for repairs had previously been sent over to the landlord but were rejected. They said since the second visit in September, contractors had been out to provide quotes for the required work. Inspections of HMOs by the letting agency are being increased, the committee heard.
Cllr Wilson said inspectors had “highlighted a huge number of deficiencies” in February and “fast forward to September… there still is a good number of deficiencies”.
“All of these should have been rectified,” he added.
Councillors were told tenants had left the property in May and new ones had moved in during August. The letting agent said they believed “all of the deficiencies” had been covered at that time.
Cllr Wilson said there were a “substantial amount of alarm bells ringing with this, especially in terms of safety and the fact there are members of the public in this property when fire [service] is not willing to sign this off”.
“If this property goes on fire any time soon, I’d hate to be in your shoes,” he added.
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