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 LSquared on
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Served up by who? I've seen plenty of suggestions for improving housing provision other than unconstrained private development or building on the green belt.
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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Commuting takes energy and is "dead time" in that it does not contribute to GDP. It has to be minimised. We need to build new homes and we can't demolish current medium density housing to build high density housing as it's almost all in private hands. Therefore we must build on the green belt. It's going to happen.
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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I've completely lost you, FPR. A few minutes ago we were escaping the bulldozers in Watership - or was it Woodberry - Down. (Admittedly accompanied by a USA immigrant rabbit called Thumper.) Now we're organising piss-ups with home brew and cakes and ale?
If only I knew what you were on about . . .
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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Careful what you wish for. Try a satellite Google of Southall.
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Also have a look at: BBC news item in 2004: Why concrete gardens are growing
Or Google: flood risk; Friends of the Earth.
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If the Friends of the Earth are not to your liking, try the Royal Horticultural Society. Over recent years they've published on why greening matters in cities.
They reviewed the science - here's a summary. It asks: "What is the value of gardens in urban areas? Do gardens sustain our cities? There are brief sections headed: moderating temperature; preventing urban flooding; supporting human health; providing urban biodiversity; carbon emissions; and water use.
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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-
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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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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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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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