An unscrupulous landlord has been handed a long-term ban after allowing up to 18 residents to live in substandard conditions.

Adam Habane has been barred from letting or managing properties for five years after an investigation by Bristol City Council revealed the appalling conditions tenants, including six children, had been living in.

Photos from the run-down property on Lower Ashley Road in Bristol revealed the horrid conditions tenants lived in with rooms and hallways filled with black mould and a large hole with insulation hanging out in the bathroom ceiling.

The council told the Bristol Post that the landlord had a “long history of poor property management” and found him guilty in March 2021 of mismanaging seven flats at the same address.

Habane has been prohibited from letting houses or carrying out letting agency or property management work in England as well as acting as an officer of any company that works in the area.

His name will also be added to the government’s Rogue Landlord database.

A statement by the council said: “The property was discovered to be in very poor repair and poorly managed, with particular concerns for the safety of the occupants due to the absence of operating fire alarm systems.

“The concern was so great that, as a precautionary measure, the council provided battery operated smoke detectors to the property that day, to protect the tenants while decisions were made of the future of the property.

“Other safety issues remained, and the council later made Prohibition Orders on the flats in the main building of the property to make it illegal for anyone to live there, due to the very poor and unsafe living conditions.”

The statement continued: The council took the decision to apply for a banning order following this case because of the seriousness of those offences and the potential harm to tenants.

“It is also hoped it will deter other rogue landlords and agents from operating in a criminal way.”