Yacht owner used false identities to exploit tenants

The owner of a multi-million pound yacht spun a “web of deceit” over several years of misleading tenants in his rental properties.

Thomas Flight’s yacht, the Miss Conduct, remains an incongruous sight in Bristol harbour.

It can now be revealed that Flight is the landlord of a number of flats in St Paul’s and created multiple false identities and fake letting agencies as part of an elaborate web of misinformation designed to exploit his tenants.

Flight pleaded guilty at Bristol Crown Court to four of the six charges against him, including committing consumer protection offences against his tenants.

The charge follows a lengthy investigation by Bristol City Council into the landlord’s conduct, following various complaints from his tenants between June 2019 and January 2021.

Thomas Flight locked the doors and evicted the owners of Hidden Corner cafe and bookshop on Portland Square in St Paul’s in October 2021 – photo: Ellie Pipe

In court on January 6, Flight was fined £12,000 and was ordered to pay the council’s £25,000 of costs.

The landlord and businessman operated from 21 Portland Square, but the letting agency itself went by a number of different trading names.

When tenants lodged complaints, they were given different names by “agents” of Flight, who repeatedly held back information about the landlord, despite the tenants’ requests.

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Read next: Demo outside yacht as protestors demand answers from owners 

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After tracing payments back to Flight, Bristol City Council’s private housing team was able to determine he had used various companies and trading names to receive rent, fees and deposits.

Flight kept security deposit money, avoided responsibility for a number of unfair commercial practices and made-up landlord and letting agent information, including a fictitious director of one of his companies.

Bristol City Council interviewed Flight as early as February 2021 in relation to the alleged criminal offences, which could not be covered while the case was still active due to reporting restrictions.

A demonstration outside Miss Conduct took place in August 2022 – photo: Martin Booth

He even failed to cooperate with the council and continued to provide false information during the investigation.

After Flight’s home address was finally revealed as the Miss Conduct yacht, a condition of his bail stipulated that he must remain living on the vessel close to Brunel’s Buttery and must also tell the court if he moves.

In August 2021, protesters held a demonstration outside the Miss Conduct yacht with placards accusing the owners of alleged illegal evictions and unpaid bills.

One demonstrator said that Flight hides “behind a veneer of respectability”, having raised money for charities including Bristol Sea Cadets and Bristol Suicide Prevention.

In their investigation into Flight, the Bristol Cable reports that one of Flight’s aliases was Peter Carpenter.

The Cable also reports that at a case management hearing at Bristol Crown Court in September 2022, the judge threatened to remand Flight in custody if he did not disclose his home address.

This was eventually given as the Miss Conduct yacht that arrived into Bristol the previous year with a helicopter on its roof.

Speaking after Flight’s conviction, cabinet member for housing, Tom Renhard, said: “Mr Flight took advantage of tenants and that is simply not acceptable.

“We will continue to do all we can to pursue unscrupulous landlords where evidence of criminal exploitation is found.”

However, as the offences against Flight are not banning order offences under the Housing and Planning Act 2016, the disgraced landlord will not be banned from letting properties in the future.

Main photo: Martin Booth

Read next:

• ‘Bristol should give a warm welcome to billionaire’s super yacht’
• Landlord locks door of much-loved cafe and bookshop
• Calls for Bristol to bring in rent controls amid unaffordable housing costs

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