Shaban Rehman, who operated Better Homes Glasgow, was struck off the Private Landlord’s Register by Glasgow City Council after he was found to be no longer a fit and proper person to be a landlord or agent.

Rehman, whose Govanhill-based letting business has now gone into liquidation, faces a fine of up to £50,000 if he attempts to let any of his eight flats, or the 20 managed through his letting agency.

The decision follows a council investigation into Rehman’s practices after receiving complaints.

The council’s Private Landlord Registration Unit found Rehman had failed to place two deposits totalling £6950 with an approved rent deposit scheme. In one case, Rehman received a £3200 deposit for a flat in the west end of Glasgow from a family relocating from London.

When the family arrived in the city they were told the flat was unavailable due to flooding and an alternative flat was offered for an additional £700 per month.

In an attempt to justify the lack of access to the original flat, Rehman provided pictures to the family of a flooded property, which was actually a flat in London that been highlighted in the media earlier that year.

Rehman subsequently placed the West End flat back on the rental market without ever paying back the deposit.

In the second case, an individual tenant discovered his deposit of £3750 had not been paid into an approved tenancy deposit scheme when the flat in Pollokshields was repossessed for mortgage arrears.

Rehman had provided the tenant with a document that apparently showed money had been paid into the rent deposit scheme but it was found the document only confirmed registration with the scheme, not payment into an account.

This individual was eventually able to recover his deposit of £3750 through a civil court action. Rehman has not appealed the decision to remove his name and the name of his letting agency, Better Homes Glasgow, from the landlord register.

Glasgow City Council has also served rent penalty notices against him, which prevents him from legally collecting rent on his properties.

Richard Brown, executive director of the council’s development and regeneration services, said: “This kind of appalling behaviour by a registered landlord can never be tolerated.

“Shaban Rehman has taken money from blameless tenants in bad faith and caused his victims untold distress and inconvenience.

“There is no question that he is no longer a fit and proper person to act as a landlord. By his own actions, he has ceased to be a legitimate landlord and has damaged trust in the private sector rental market.

“It’s to advantage of both tenants and other landlords that he has been flushed out of the system. We will always seek to take action against landlords who abuse their position and bring down the reputation of responsible landlords who meet the standards expected of them.”