A landlord who converted a house into flats without permission was this month fined £20,000 and ordered to pay costs to the council.
Landlord Mr Taskin Izzett of Waltham Cross owned houses which had been illegally converted into flats. One house at 89 Burgoyne Road, N4 was converted into 5 flats and one at 23 Hewitt Avenue, N22 into 4 flats.
After complaints from residents, council officers served notices of compliance on the Izzett but he ignored them, forcing the council to take him to court for failure to comply with the enforcement notice, under Section 179(2) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990
Last year Mr Izzett failed to attend court to answer the charges and was later arrested under warrant by police.In court, on September 8th 2010, Mr Izzett pleaded not guilty, claiming he was unaware of the notices served on him and that the properties were already converted when he bought them.
The court rejected Mr Izzett’s defence and he was found guilty and fined £10,000 for each house with costs in excess of £2,000 for each property. In addition Mr Izzett had to pay a £30 victim surcharge.
Cllr Nilgun Canver, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, said: "Landlords must comply with notices and we will take action of they do not. Unauthorised conversions can cause problems for neighbours and we ask landlords to work with us to make sure their properties comply with legislation."
Tags for Forum Posts: hewitt road, hmos, illegal conversion
-
▶ Reply to This