A husband and wife have been ordered to pay more than £270,000 after they illegally converted a house in Hillingdon into four separate cramped flats.
Amarjit Singh, 54, and Jasbinder Kaur, 45, of Munster Avenue, Hounslow, illegally subdivided a house in Yiewsley and constructed an outbuilding for rent without planning permission.
The couple appeared at Isleworth Crown Court on Monday where they were ordered to pay a confiscation order of £250,055.80 — the income generated from charging rent on five illegal units.
It comes following an investigation by Hillingdon Council, who inspected the property at Maple Avenue on June 27, 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.
Singh and Kaur were also individually fined £10,000 and required to pay prosecution costs of £4,480.
The judge allowed a three-month period to settle all fines. Failure to comply with the confiscation order could result in a prison sentence of two years and nine months.
Councillor Steve Tuckwell 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.”
The council’s planning enforcement team gained entry to the main property on July 4, 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 November 20, 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 March 21, 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, February 23, 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.
