Rogue Landlords in Perivale and Southall Get Hefty Fines
Council crackdown on breaches of planning regulations
A flat was added in an illegal extension in Perivale. Picture: Ealing Council
September 5, 2023
Ealing Council has completed crackdowns on landlords in Southall and Perivale which have resulted in hundreds of thousands of pounds in fines. Two landlords were handed hefty fines after it was found that they failed to follow planning rules and ignored instructions from the council’s planning enforcement team.
Zasar Khan, of The Broadway, Southall has been ordered to pay more than £125,000 for ignoring a planning enforcement notice at his property.
A council inspection in March 2019 found Mr Khan, aged 49, had built an unauthorised rear roof extension to his property and converted it into 6 self-contained flats, creating cramped and sub-standard living conditions. He challenged an order by the council’s enforcement team to stop using the building as flats and remove the extension to the rear roof, however, his appeal failed.
Following this, council officers gained a warrant to access the property and, in December 2021, found that it was still being occupied in breach of the notice, resulting in a court summons being issued. After proceedings were concluded he was ordered by Isleworth Crown Court to pay a Confiscation Order of £104,000, £14,000 in costs and also given a £9,000 fine.
In Perivale, the council discovered that Hafiz Imran, of Rydal Crescent had unauthorised buildings added to his home over ten years old. He appealed the decision to have his side and rear wrap-around extension torn down, however, it was dismissed.
Following this dismissal, Mr Imran, aged 45, submitted 6 separate planning applications between 2011 and 2016, with 2 being approved and 4 being refused.
In January 2020, council officers found that the unauthorised side and rear extension were still there. The team also found that Mr Imran had converted the side extension into a self-contained flat, without obtaining the relevant planning permission.
He was summoned to court and finally in July this year, he was ordered by Isleworth Crown Court to pay a Confiscation Order of £100,000, £30,000 in costs and given a £500 fine.
Substandard housing extention living conditions. Picture: Ealing Council
Councillor Bassam Mahfouz, Ealing Council’s cabinet member for safe and genuinely affordable homes, said, “Once again, these are great results for the borough. A big ‘thank you’ goes to our enforcement team, which worked tirelessly to investigate two landlords who put their tenants at risk by not meeting their responsibilities. In these cases, the landlords initially have three months to pay their confiscation orders and risk a default prison sentence if they do not pay.
“We know most of our landlords provide high quality, well-managed housing for local people, but we will continue to take robust action against those who do not.”
Rory Bennett - Local Democracy Reporter