Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
'illegal' HMO - what to do (apart from informing council)?
Hi,
we've had issues with our neighbouring house. It's got some history with changing ownership and squatters. To cut the long story short: The new owner has put in 10 bedsits. It's a 5 bedroom house, he didn't have planning permission (also hasn't applied yet) nor a license to run it as a HMO. The refurbishment works are a disgrace: The house seriously needed an overhaul, but he has just painted the rooms and put some partitions in. Not to mention that the garden is severely overgrown. Plus there were some issues with the builders (living on the premises) pretty much worked when they wanted, starting to drill at 8.15pm on a Sunday or BH etc. There is huge pile of rubbish dumped in the front yard. This Monday the first tenant seems to have moved in which is about 10 days after they started the refurbishment works.
We (and others) have made a complaint re the noise, but more importantly re the missing planning permission last week. We received an acknowledgement letter that someone would get back to us within 3 weeks. I then called the enforcement officer dealing with the issue. He explained to me that he visited the house this Mon, but no answer. He then wrote to the owner who has the right to either make sure the house is vacated or apply for planning permission within 3 weeks. The officer told me he 'might as well get planning permission'. If he doesn't comply he might face criminal conviction. He also informed me the that the front yard has to be cleared (Section 251 or so). Planning is not responsible for the license, but he has referred to a different section in the housing dept re this.
To be honest, I'm a bit baffled by the response. The owner is quite obviously abusing the situation that there is a housing shortage in London, letting small rooms without proper walls in a house that needs refurbishing for £150 per week. However there seems to be no law that lets the planning dept close down the house for the time being. He can move in more and more people and await for his planning application to go through or not. Either way he has made heaps of money in the meantime and doesn't even get a fine, even if the planning permission doesn't go through and he doesn't comply with the conditions of the license (which I can't see that he does at present). Does anyone have experience in this and what more can be done apart from reporting it to the council? There is several neighbours here concerned and we've just had the first loud row yesterday. One neighbour also suggested he would report this to the civic society Tottenham. Any other suggestions? Would Councillors be responsible and could we approach them (we're not British citizen, but belong to the Commonwealth in case that matters.)
Thanks
Tags for Forum Posts: squatters
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Tina S on
-
Hi again, I've spoken to the residential department re the license back in Sept - see post of 10 Sept. The officer dealing with the case was called Martha Harding I believe. She acknoweldged that a license is needed, however they will let the planning dept take the lead as only the conversion without planning permission made it to an HMO (it was a 5 bedroom house occupied as a family home so far - the previous owner, a single man, sold it in summer last year and then it was vacant and changed ownership twice). Gordon, iwere you talking about a different case or this one?
-
-
I was answering 'West Green' 's enquiry above, Tina, so a different case.
-
-
Hi again,
unfortunately the story is still ongoing. Now the owner of the new house has submitted a planning application. However not to transform the house into a bedsit, but to change the terrasse (which currently only has a roof) into an extension. The extension is supposed to be 1 storey only, but 3m high. We've not been notified by the council, but received a letter from a party wall surveyor, asking us to appoint him.
As to the other issues, we've still got issues with rubbish left outside the bins (which are now 4) and dumped in our bins. It's scattered all over the place. We've spoken to the owner twice requesting to fix his roof (we've just refurbished our front and are worried it'll ruin it again) but he's not forthcoming in repairing it.
I've asked the council for an update and the long overdue promised response to our enquiry, but no response. The councillor is not forthcoming at all.
-Does the council need to notify us?
-would you go ahead with appointing the surveyor who approached us? What implications would this have?
-We're thinking of alternatives as bringing the case to the attention of the papers (as last resort), advice from CAB, approaching another councillor or submitting a complaint. Has anyone got experience with this and can give advice what might be the best way of bringing this forward? We feel very disheartened to have virtually no response from the counci nor the councillor we approached.
-
Permalink Reply by Rob B on
-
My advice in potentially disputed applications like this ALWAYS instruct your own surveyor. They should be a RICS registered surveyor who deals with party wall awards. You will have to confirm in your retainer, but their fees should be covered by the Property Owner.
Do not be pressured into a joint appointment of the surveyor. That is only suitable for when the party wall works are uncontentious – i.e. neighbours who have already discussed the matter and are in broad agreement already.
-
-
So we finally received a response from the council. They visited week before last and the owner claims to rent to a family. The council says as it's not self contained departments but there are shared facilities 'similar to a family home'. This is seriously ridiculous! 15 young people sharing a house from one family? They are awaiting further evidence that the landlord is renting to one family and will keep the case open for the time being, but our hope is swindling.
-
-
Okay, so in detail the guy is applying for a 'certificate of lawfullness for erection of rear single storey extension'. It's listed on 'online planning services'. The site gives an option to make a comment, until 30/12/15. Can anyone tell me what the policies in this regard are - do they need to notify neighbours and / or should we be making a comment on the application via that website or what would be the best way to approach this issue?
-
-
Hi, not sure if this would be of any help. By contacting your own surveyour who should work on your behalf and look into all your concerns. This in mind I think this is billed to the neighbour carrying out works but works on your behalf. It would be a good idea to get a separate one from the one your neighbour uses (this would add more costs to them). Peter Barry in Enfield were very good when we had our loft done (our neighbour appointed them - so we also appointed them too when we had our loft done - they were fair but we did although we were paying them it felt like they were working for the neighbours). They might be able to help and advise you.
-
Permalink Reply by Mavic Starfish on
-
Hi Tina
Same scenario, as owner of HMO next door applied to put in a loft extension, a surveyor contacted me to act on my behalf. i asked how he knew about the application, and he said that's what they do - check for planning applications and contact the home owner next door. Yes, the other party is billed, no cost to you, although please do confirm that. Here's his details, their planning application will have to be approved by council and your surveyor can object if he has any issues. He advised me to look out for any cracks appearing during building works as they would be able to put an immediate stop to the works if it was affecting our property. Details as follows
D Padalino Architect Bsc Arch DIP (Hons) Arch, RIBA MFPWS
DPA (London) Ltd, 3c Brocket Road, Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, EN11 8NZ
t. 01992 469001/ f. 01992 469002
-
-
Definitely appoint your own surveyor, they should be representing your interests only. DPA were good and fine to travel to Haringey
-
-
Hi again,
just a brief update: we're now at the stage where Haringey council agreed to a 2nd certificate of lawfulness - the first one to convert the terrace into a proper extension and the 2nd one to extend an existing summerhouse to double the size. They put the application only on the website after they already agreed. The landlord then tore a wall that's connecting their house to our house down - no notice to us and we kind of didn't consider he would work there and therefore thought party wall act wasn't appliccable. He damaged the shed of another neighbour and made a hole of about 20x30cm in our kitchen wall. To top it, he claims it's his wall! It's not even connected to his house any longer (there used to be a roof between his house and ours which was held up by the wall) and it's the wall of our old garage (which was converted into our kitchen); it's quite evident from the land registry that there was nothing on their side previously and this wall was previously only connected to our house and is our wall or max a party wall. An old apple tree was also cut off which I've today been informed is legally challengable.
We've spoken to the landlord to instruct a surveyor, but he is not forthcoming to allow a site visit. It's all getting quite nasty...Still drilling noise on Saturday afternoons, he continued to jack hammer on the wall we claim is ours, still drug dealing, infestation, rubbish, 13 rooms in a 4 bed house etc etc etc And Haringey council seems to be doing zero about it! Complaint submitted last night and email sent to MP. Further consultations with other neighbours and considering lawyer involvement. Any other suggestions?
-
-
Oh, and how long does the landlord have to stick to the use indicated in the application? He put a 'gym / games room' down but it very much looks like a 1 bed flat to us...
- ‹ Previous
- 1
- 2
- 3
- Next ›
© 2024 Created by Hugh.
Powered by
