Rogue landlords fined more than £270,000 for illegally converting home into flats

Amarjit Singh, 54, and Jasbinder Kaur, 45, of Munster Avenue, Hounslow, appeared at Isleworth Crown Court on Monday 7 April, and the judge ruled under the Proceeds of Crime Act they must pay a confiscation order of £250,055.80, the income generated from charging rent on five illegal units. 

Singh and Kaur were also individually fined £10,000 and required to pay prosecution costs of £4,480. The judge granted a period of three months to pay all fines and default on the payment of the confiscation order could lead to two years and nine months imprisonment. 

The council's planning enforcement team inspected 24 Maple Avenue on 27 June 2018 following reports that a large outbuilding had been constructed in the garden without planning permission. Internal inspections found it contained a separate bedroom, kitchen, shower room and lounge, and was being used as an independent residential unit.  

Follow up visits were undertaken, with entry gained to the main property on 4 July 2018, where it was established it had been illegally subdivided into four self-contained flats with separate bedrooms, kitchens and living spaces.  

The council subsequently served planning enforcement notices on 20 November 2018, which required the main property and outbuilding be returned to use as a single dwelling, removing all but one kitchen, and internal partitions and lockable doors used to divide the home by 21 March 2019.   

During an unscheduled inspection, it was found that the enforcement notices had not been complied with, and the property and outbuilding were still being rented to multiple tenants.  

Singh and Kaur pleaded guilty to two offences of breaching planning control at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court on Friday 23 February 2024. Following a financial investigation by the council's trading standards team uncovering the significant rental income received from the illegal flats, the case was referred to the Crown Court for sentencing and confiscation proceedings. In that time, the property was also returned to its previous condition as a single dwelling house. 

Cllr Steve Tuckwell, Hillingdon Council's Cabinet Member for Planning, Housing and Growth said: "This is a significant result for our planning enforcement and trading standards teams and sends a clear message that the creation of beds in sheds and illegally rented properties will not be condoned in our borough. 

"We're determined to keep residents safe from harm and ensure everyone can live in safe, good quality homes, and we will continue to take legal action against any landlords who break the rules." 

To find out more about planning regulations and how to report a breach, visit www.hillingdon.gov.uk/report-planning-breach.