Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
74 Umfreville Road roof extension update
I have heard back from Patrick Sullivan that this is indeed an illegal conversion but I'm not sure what exactly they have been asked to do, hopefully remove it. Here is his letter:
"Our investigations have found that the property has been converted into 4 bedsits without planning permission. It seems that the work being undertaken in the loft is in order to accommodate a 5th bedsit.
All of this work is obviously without the benefit of planning permission.
The owners have been notified of the various breaches and instructed to undertake the necessary work in order to remediate the breaches. If this work is not completed voluntarily the Council will issue the owners with an enforcement notice compelling them to do so."
"Our investigations have found that the property has been converted into 4 bedsits without planning permission. It seems that the work being undertaken in the loft is in order to accommodate a 5th bedsit.
All of this work is obviously without the benefit of planning permission.
The owners have been notified of the various breaches and instructed to undertake the necessary work in order to remediate the breaches. If this work is not completed voluntarily the Council will issue the owners with an enforcement notice compelling them to do so."
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Harringay Birder on
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The problem is that even where the council is threatening enforcement provisions there is nothing to stop the owners applying after the event for a certificate of lawfulness, and nothing to stop the council from issuing one. From my experience, that is what is likely to happen.
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Permalink Reply by Stuart on
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Patrick is very amenable. You should just call him up and ask him to explain. This probably means they've given the owner 3 months to put the property back to a single dwelling, failing which they will take enforcement action. It's the start of a long and torturous road, Maddy, but hopefully, if you keep at them (and you really do need to be persistent) it will eventually result either in the house being restored and/or the owner being prosecuted.
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Permalink Reply by VIX on
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Another day and yet another conversion is posted on HOL.
Bushy is right. Keep the pressure on planning and they will deal with it.
I think there is enough attention focused on the planning enforcement dept at the moment that they want to get results. People have woken up [thanks to sites like HOL] and are simply not tolerating these slum landlord/developers in our streets anymore. Fortunately it sounds like they have been caught out before they have got tenants so they should be missing out on a rental income.
I don't think it is that easy for the council to simply issue a certificate of lawfulness, especially when locals have alerted the council to an illegal conversion and are objecting to it.
The more of these conversions that get stopped, word will soon get round that Haringey is not the 'soft target' for HMO's it once was.
If you want to be safe [and im sure you know this already] you can always report it to David Lammy's office care of Nora Mulready. It wont get passed if they have anything to do with it!
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Permalink Reply by Liz on
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You can do this online on this page of David Lammy's website (scroll down to find the forms).
You can also raise concerns over Ladder conversions with the LCSP by emailing them at lcsp@blueyonder.co.uk
Inform the Harringay cllrs. Contact details here
Information and links on HMOs are also on the Action on Housing group homepage here
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All very well but they can issue certificates of lawfulness, and, in our case, they did.
I can try David Lammy but he can hardly overturn the decision.
I'm not conscious of there being any real interest at the council in HMOs generally.
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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David Lammy is not the Council. His staff are not council officers. Neither he nor councillors (like me) are obliged to defend mistakes and poor practice. (If that's what has happened.) We certainly shouldn't be encouraging landlords and managing agents who show zero concern for their own tenants or the neighbourhood.
In the right places and if done legally and to a high standard, conversions can provide valuable and needed smaller homes. But where there is evidence of scams and abuses please pass this to David's office. We can all help to lift the lid.
As in many other areas, sunshine is still an effective disinfectant.
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