1st
Apr 2016
Two London landlords received a fine of £116,000 for turning a house into seven studio flats without bothering to receive the necessary planning permission.
This followed action taken by Islington Council after they had ignored their notice to cease using the property as an HMO (Houses in Multiple in Occupation).
The council’s enforcement notice was handed to the two landlords in December 2013 where it stated that they were breaking the law by renting out the single house as seven separate studio flats and to stop doing this by the middle of 2014.
In spite of the enforcement notice the two landlords carried on regardless despite receiving further letters of warning from the council. The authority decided to proceed with legal action and took the pair to court in October 2015 where they both admitted their guilt for failing to follow the instructions given in their enforcement notice.
In March 2016 at the Blackfriars Crown Court, the landlords were ordered to pay £5,000 and £4,000 for the legal costs and between them had to pay back £98,000 which they had received in rents from July 2014 up till October 2015.
Councillor James Murray, Islington Council’s executive member for housing and development, said: “Planning regulations are put in place because they provide important protection to local residents. Ultimately, landlords who ignore planning law face losing months or even years of rental income and this can be, as in this case, a very large amount of money.”
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