14th
Nov 2024
A rogue landlord has been ordered to pay £282,000 for illegally converting a home into five flats, violating planning consent and other policies.
Isleworth Crown Court imposed a confiscation order and fine after the rogue landlord, Krzyszto Pogwizd of Rickmansworth, had ignored multiple warnings from Ealing Council to restore the house on Dorchester Road to its original state.
Ealing Council told the court an enforcement notice was issued to Mr. Pogwizd in early 2020 demanding that he cease renting the Northolt house as five separate flats and that he must remove the bathrooms, kitchens, drainage connections, and all internal locks, doors, and partitions from four of the flats. The council said the landlord did not appeal the notice.
In July 2022, the landlord applied for planning permission to convert the Northolt house into four self-contained flats. However, this application was denied in August 2022.
In October 2022, a few months after the landlord’s planning permission application was denied, Ealing Council's planning enforcement officers, along with police, inspected the property. They found it occupied by multiple tenants, still in violation of the original 2020 enforcement notice.
In September 2023, Pogwizd appeared at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court, pleaded guilty, and had his case transferred to Isleworth Crown Court. On 21st October 2024, he was ordered to pay a confiscation order of £259,920.51, a £12,000 fine, a £2,000 victim surcharge, and costs amounting to £8,994.56.
Cllr Shital Manro, the council’s cabinet member for good growth and new housing, commented: “As the demand for housing continues to grow in the borough, it’s more important than ever that we support landlords to provide safe, high-quality homes for their tenants. The overwhelming majority of landlords are law-abiding and play a vital part in the local housing market, but a tiny minority continue to put their tenants at risk by forcing them to live in cramped, sub-standard living conditions.
“Anyone looking to make substantial changes to their homes must seek planning approval before doing so. We will continue to take the strongest possible action to ensure that the borough’s private tenants are protected, and can live in safe, well-maintained homes.”
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