11^th May 2016

Following a successful prosecution by Havering council, a private landlord received fines of over £100,000 for changing her property into illegal flats.

At Snaresbrook Crown Court, under the Proceeds of Crime Act, she was ordered to pay £88,500. The handing out of fines did not stop there, as she was also ordered to pay a further £2,500 for a second offence for disregarding an earlier Enforcement Notice plus £10,300 for prosecution costs.

The landlord originally applied for planning permission to convert her property into two flats; however she decided to develop four flats to rent out. Her actions led to a Planning Enforcement Notice in 2011 and resulted in a prosecution in 2013 at Romford Magistrates Court, where she received a fine; regardless of this she carried on renting out the two extra flats.

The overall total of fines amounted to £101,300 and after the latest prosecution, Patrick Keyes, head of regulatory services at Havering Council, said: “Throughout this investigation we have advised Mrs. Khaira how she should comply but she continued to breach the Enforcement Notices and prosecution became the Councils only option.”


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