Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Landlord set to lose rents from illegal conversions
Rogue landlords continue to blight the Harringay Ladder - Haringey Council have managed to bring one to book.
A rogue landlord faces fines and having his rents confiscated after losing his appeal against conviction for two illegal house conversions.
Cllr Nilgun Canver, Cabinet Member for the Environment, said:
"Hopefully we will now see justice done. The extra rent accrued while people were living in illegally converted flats may now be confiscated. I hope this is a lesson to all landlords who try to take shortcuts or hope to dodge planning laws."
[name removed] of Southgate converted properties on Hewitt Road and Burgoyne Road N4, to four and five self-contained flats. He had no planning permission for the conversions. Consequently council planning enforcement officers issued enforcement notices requiring him to return the properties to single dwellings.
He was first prosecuted and convicted in 2010 when he failed to comply with the enforcement notice. A further prosecution in 2011 resulted in a second conviction.
Subsequent planning inspection visits found no changes to the properties and he was prosecuted and convicted for a third time in January this year. He unsuccessfully appealed the conviction at Wood Green Crown Court on March 11, arguing he had done all he could to comply with the enforcement notices. The judge dismissed this as 'far too little too late'.
Haringey Council requested that the matter be referred for confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act as so much time had lapsed since the enforcement notices were first in breach. He stands to potentially lose all of the calculated benefits from renting these properties as flats in breach of the enforcement notice and may be fined and asked to pay costs incurred by the council.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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Sorry, Nope. I didn't tune in to the New Year's Eve humorous vibe.
Because, believe it or not. the majority of people I've talked to about these issues think it's silly or even scaremongering to worry when we're so far away from the sea or very large rivers.
So, every few years when parts of London get flooded, there are inquiries; and politicians go on TV and say "never again" and "something must be done". And stuff like that. Maybe people think something effective has been done.
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Photo by John Kelly-
Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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I think that maybe a good start would be better use of the existing stock.
Many thousands of potential homes lie empty across the country, many in private hands and many government owned (ex MOD stuff for instance). Next time you are sauntering along a shopping street, look above the shops and you'll spot a few In a couple of minutes.
Local authorities have done some work in bringing some private sector empties back into use but legally it's a tough slog and it needs a more coordinated approach.
There also need to be less focus on London. Where I grew up it is really easy to get a council place as many estates have high levels of empty properties. But the only way to do that I suppose is to generate employment so people want to go to live there.
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Permalink Reply by Finsbury Park Ranger on
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I agree, better use of existing stock - including turning houses / large dwellings into smaller flats. That was happening, until Harringay elected ' 'representatives' made such changes illegal in green lanes, seemingly on the basis that they simply don't think anymore people should live in Green Lanes.
No room in the green room inn.
Extremely hypocritical considering don't you think ?
In the guardian they were saying. 96 % of London immigration comes from people traveling from the crap* parts of the UK to find work in London.
* The solution is not, send them back to the crap parts of the UK.
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Most the borough does not have restrictions on conversion to flats, only those listed below. This policy was originally brought into force because the areas were considered saturated with conversions and there was little or no further capacity for the additional number of cars more people would generate. But also capacity had been reached in some for primary school places. If you look at The Ladder a site for a third primary school seems improbable.
HSG11: RESTRICTED CONVERSION AREAS
Permission will not be granted for conversions in the following areas:
a) The Miltons: Area to North East side of Archway Road;
b) Archway Road: Area to the South West Side of Archway
Road;
c) Harringay Ladder: Green Lanes to Wightman Road;
d) Stroud Green: Area bounded by Stroud Green Road,
Stapleton Hall Road, Florence Road and Woodstock Road;
e) Muswell Hill: Roads near centre;
f) Bruce Grove Ward;
g) Myddleton Road, Wood Green;
h) West Green Road;
i) Crouch End: Roads near centre; or
j) Streets where conversions and/or HMO already equal 20%
of the properties (see policy HSG6).
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Thanks for that. Its quite interesting to watch parts of London effectively become closed to immigration. I would imagine if will become a hugely popular policy and eventually role out to much more of Harringay and other boroughs too before not too long.
One day we might even issue London visa's to the lucky ones who don't have to leave the city walls to sleep.
I can see the need to plan for these things but I would prefer to see the onus on the state to accommodate for the people rather than the people accommodate for the state but maybe my libertarian instincts would prove to make a poor city planner.
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Permalink Reply by Luci on
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I'm a bit puzzled by the idea that restricting conversions to HMOs actually stops people moving to London. When I lived in Leeds I lived in shared houses, in London of my 5 rented homes in a short time, 3 were a room in the house, 2 were rooms in purpose built smaller properties - none on the Ladder and only one off Green Lanes (in the Gardens), it's true, but I suspect rents on the other side of Green Lanes would have been prohibitive. I come from an area of Leeds where private rents to students have put the cost of a long term home out of reach to anyone needing something other than a single room in very insecure and unsatisfactory conditions.
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The rules apply to houses of multiple occupation houses as well (HMO's). Your children would one day have to eat pot noodles in their first flat whilst procrastinating their studies somewhere else.
Well maybe not the pot noodle bit, that's oppotional. :)
Price of flats in Harringay are going rocket even more because of this. It's alright though, posh houses for rich families might remain 'affordable'.
*cough*
But don't rent that house out to students or poor people because one day the rogue landlord police will come and get you for 'blighting' the area.
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I don't think most of the houses I've lived in were HMOs. We live in a very small house on the other side of Chestnuts Park from Harringay, no prospect of being able to move, and I can't see that my boys aged 4 and 6 now are ever going to be able to leave home, since rent for a room in an HMO or shared non HMO house is more than we've ever paid for our mortgage (we were very very lucky and bought some time ago) and they're currently talking about not allowing people under 25 any Housing Benefit. Private landlords are very much part of the problem, they push up the prices of housing. And as for your comment about posh houses for rich families - ordinary houses haven't been affordable here in Tottenham for some years, and I don't know when they were affordable in Harringay because it was well before I moved to London over 18 years ago or found somewhere to buy 3 years later. I don't know anything about you and I'm making no assumptions, you know less about me (apart from what I say here) and are making lots.
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Permalink Reply by markb on
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Tenants have some blame for price rises too, albeit out of desperation for quality. The ones that took over the last two places I stayed at got into a bidding war both times and offered over asking price. Sadly, that's supply and demand for you.
London is getting rather New York like. I expect shoebox rents to go up even more.
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I wonder how many people bought a house on green lanes etc might be feeling a little bit done as they realise they can't ever rent it out in a way to best maximise returns like they probably thought they could, should they need to.
Suddenly discovering you have a house that no buy to let land lord would ever want to buy must be a bit of a jab in the ribs when considering moving on.
I hope this change of policy was advertised clearly to everyone who will be effected.
The designated area's also by nature of purpose mark out 'blight' zones of top end of urban sprawl, a local infrastructure at zero capacity, not a nice classification to hang over your house, albeit sadly seemingly necessary. -
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I'm his current tenant, worst time of my life. DONT EVER RENT FROM HIM.
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