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Proceeds of Crime - £250,000 must be paid by landlord

A rogue landlord prosecuted for illegally squashing seven flats into a development with planning permission for six must pay around £250,000. 

In addition three of the flats had unauthorised bedrooms that, the local council claims, added to the already cramped and sub-standard conditions.

Southwark council in south London found the size of six of the flats to be below minimum standards and they were so poorly designed that five had no dedicated storage space at all. 

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In addition, the flats were let as temporary accommodation and short-term holiday lets. This was unauthorised and the constant coming and going of different parties resulted in noise and disturbance to local residents.

Southwark council prosecuted Highbrow Properties Limited and director Iftikhar Ahmed, from Wembley. 

Ahmed pleaded guilty and appeared before the Inner London Crown Court, where he was told to demolish the unauthorised flats, or correct the development so that it met with the original planning permission. 

He was also told to stop using the properties for temporary accommodation.

Following the guilty plea, the court agreed that Ahmed had illegally gained £230,000 in rent, as established by specialist financial investigators from Southwark council’s Trading Standards team.

The court ordered Ahmed or the company to pay a proceeds of crime confiscation order of £230,000. Ahmed faces two years in prison if the confiscation order is not paid in three months.

In addition, Highbrow Properties Limited incurred fines and costs of £25,000, while Ahmed must pay fines and costs of £13,000.

 

 

A Southwark council spokesman says: “Everyone deserves a good quality home and space standards make sure that new homes are both good quality and a good size. 

“This blatant attempt to shoehorn an extra flat and additional bedrooms, compromised the entire block. This court result serves as warning that planning control breaches will not be tolerated and supports the council in cracking down on those who try to benefit from renting illegal and sub-standard properties in Southwark.”

Want to comment on this story? If so...if any post is considered to victimise, harass, degrade or intimidate an individual or group of individuals on any basis, then the post may be deleted and the individual immediately banned from posting in future.

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    Our laws don't apply to him

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    I think it all a bit strange if you get permission for 6 Flats its great keep to that. Surely Building Control must be have been involved and stage inspections carried out + completion Certificate’s. Those are needed not least for his own benefit especially if he wants to sell at some stage, a bit more to this but I won’t speculate.

  • George Dawes

    If proceeds of crime applied to our government, they’d be permanently bankrupt

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    For a start I’d want 80% of my council tax back.

     
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    C/tax the most unfair tax, great big adult families & extended related families, same c/tax as a couple and no licence required either, poll tax had merits only people who never paid wouldn’t pay, sometimes if a LL has rooms let in a property and gives them too many facilities the Council might put a band on each room, this don’t happen when they are all connected families.

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    Their was nothing wrong with the poll tax, seemed fair to me

     
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    "Everyone deserves a good quality home " Where is the money coming from ? What's deserving got to do with it ? It takes an enormous amount of work to produce a good quality home, ie lots of money. l renovated my first home, l was decorating the bedroom whilst the wife was asleep in there. I was working a 7 day week to fund it. ! 6 hours on a Saturday and Sunday.

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    Same here Edwin, and living in a caravan with very young children, nothing is free (or shouldn't be) if you want these things you have to make them yourself

     
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    Yes everyone deserves a decent affordable home if they earn it, otherwise they deserves nothing. They don’t deserve it just because they were born and it’s not the job of another private individual to provide for them. When the State decides its going to nanny them from cradle to grave and make a rod for their own back it’s up to them but don’t expect a private landlord who has to finance himself to do the job of the State as well as pay for many other requirements and taxes.

  • PossessionFriendUK PossessionFriend

    I think the proceeds of renting the 7 th flat should be repaid ( but not the other 6 ? )

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