Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Local Councillor Supports Residents' Fight against Illegal Conversions
A group of Harringay Online members have been working quietly together doing some great work to fight illegal conversions in Harringay. Previously the LCSP have made efforts to fight this and Haringey Council are slowly beginning to be more active in the area too.
Recently two landlords were taken to court in connection with illegal conversions. Their fine was, to say the least, unlikely to act as a deterrent.
Haringey Council have today released the following press release:
COURT FINE "TOO LENIENT"
Cabinet Member for Enforcement Cllr Nilgun Canver today criticised a fine imposed on two landlords who ignored enforcement notices as "too lenient".
Paul Lambrou and Michael Michael pleaded guilty at Haringey Magistrates to failing to comply with an enforcement notice under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 after a property in Burgoyne Road, N4, was converted into flats.
Haringey Magistrates committed the case to the Crown Court after deciding that they had inadequate sentencing powers.
But they were each fined £1,000 with £500 costs by the Crown Court. They were ordered to pay the fine within six months, with 28 days in prison if they fail to do so.
Cllr Nilgun Canver, Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety, said:
"This is a really disappointing decision by the court. This is one of the most serious cases we have had to deal with.
"This property was converted without planning permission. That was compounded by 11 flats being crammed into the development, leaving tenants with sub-standard accommodation.
"These men flagrantly ignored enforcement notices. We will not hesitate to take action against illegal conversions.
"This development allowed them to take in substantial sums in rent. In my view, the penalty was far too lenient and the defendants were not ordered to pay the full cost to the council in bringing this case, which is unacceptable."
The maximum fine for this offence at the magistrates court is £20,000.
Recently two landlords were taken to court in connection with illegal conversions. Their fine was, to say the least, unlikely to act as a deterrent.
Haringey Council have today released the following press release:
COURT FINE "TOO LENIENT"
Cabinet Member for Enforcement Cllr Nilgun Canver today criticised a fine imposed on two landlords who ignored enforcement notices as "too lenient".
Paul Lambrou and Michael Michael pleaded guilty at Haringey Magistrates to failing to comply with an enforcement notice under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 after a property in Burgoyne Road, N4, was converted into flats.
Haringey Magistrates committed the case to the Crown Court after deciding that they had inadequate sentencing powers.
But they were each fined £1,000 with £500 costs by the Crown Court. They were ordered to pay the fine within six months, with 28 days in prison if they fail to do so.
Cllr Nilgun Canver, Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety, said:
"This is a really disappointing decision by the court. This is one of the most serious cases we have had to deal with.
"This property was converted without planning permission. That was compounded by 11 flats being crammed into the development, leaving tenants with sub-standard accommodation.
"These men flagrantly ignored enforcement notices. We will not hesitate to take action against illegal conversions.
"This development allowed them to take in substantial sums in rent. In my view, the penalty was far too lenient and the defendants were not ordered to pay the full cost to the council in bringing this case, which is unacceptable."
The maximum fine for this offence at the magistrates court is £20,000.
Tags for Forum Posts: hmos, illegal conversion
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Stuart on
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This is bitterly disappointing and slap in the face not just to the council but to all the residents whose hard work goes into trying to stop these lowlife (and who have to put up with the consequences of their illegal conversions). What's most galling is that, as noted, the Magistrates can fine up to 20k. The fact they sent this up to the Crown Court (a rarity in itself) indicates that they clearly felt the fine should be MORE than 20k. While the failure of the council to recover its full costs will only make it more reluctant to bring further cases (instead favouring lengthy mediation and attempts at reconciliation rather than teaching developers a lesson). Gutted.
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Permalink Reply by maggie on
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Who gave them this fine? I bet they don't live around here. It seems that crime certainly pays when you work out the fortune these appalling landlords make producing slums which are a danger to tenants and to neighbours and then they get fined a pittance. Is there anyway the council can appeal against this decision as its totally unacceptable and to not even award costs to the council means that not only do we pay through our taxes to investigate their crimes we then have to pay for the court case too.
None the less, well done to everyone involved in getting the case to court.
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Permalink Reply by PeterPiper on
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The LCSP has correspondence dating back to 2005 when it first started raising concern about the unlawful conversion. This decision makes a mockery of the efforts by residents to promote a sustainable community and the (mis)use of their taxes.
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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Following the line of Nora's comment above, we had a go at calculating landlords' profits here.
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It pains me to say this but if you look at the criteria, I don't think this case falls into any of the categories in which they will review the sentence. These are:
more serious crimes which can be dealt with only in the Crown Court, such as murder, rape and robbery
some sex crimes, especially those involving children, but also indecent assault and some other sex crimes
child cruelty
threats to kill
some serious frauds
some drugs crimes
some racially or religiously aggravated crimes
attempting or inciting any of the above.
Though let's have a go anyway.
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Nudged by this post, I made my regular follow-up call to Haringey about number 98. I have just added the following comment on my thread about the illegal conversion at number 98:
Having noticed the other day that nothing's happening at 98, I rang Abiola at Haringey and she had no news. The best I could get was a promise of a callback or an email within 10 days.She did however tell me that no more prosecutions will be made till the new financial year since they can't afford to pay the lawyers.
So that's another month's rent at least for the landlord. If, as seems likely, he'll only face a £1,000 fine, he continues to do rather well.
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