A landlord who unlawfully built an outbuilding to store tenants’ belongings has been ordered to pay more than £23,000. 

Haig Squire built a red brick and block detached outbuilding at a property in Minster, to use as storage for his other tenant’s belongings. The structure did not have the planning permission needed for a building of its size, location and use as non-residential storage.  

Swale council were alerted to the unlawful development following a complaint from a member of the public, and issued an enforcement notice for the removal of the ‘obtrusive’, ‘oppressive’ and ‘overbearing’ structure in May 2019. 

The enforcement notice was appealed, but this was dismissed in December 2019, and Squire was required to demolish the building and return the land to its original condition by March 2020. Squire failed to comply with this deadline, so the council began court proceedings. 

This month, a judge at the Maidstone Crown Court ordered Squire to pay a fine of £12,000 pounds (reduced from £14,000 for pleading guilty), costs of £9,258, and a victim surcharge of £2,000. 

The total of £23,258 must be paid by September 2025, and failure to do so could result in Squire facing up to 12 months in prison.  

A council spokesperson says: “The council has a duty to investigate planning breaches, and we take complaints from the public very seriously.  

“We will always work with everyone involved to try and reach an amicable conclusion, but in this case the landlord refused to comply, ignoring our enforcement notice, and leaving us no choice but to go to court. 

“He was negatively impacting his neighbours through noise and the position and size of the building whilst making an income from this building, that had no planning permission.   

“This large fine should stand as a warning to those who want to flout our planning rules, which are there to make sure any developments are responsible, safe, and don’t have unreasonable impact on our neighbours.”

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