A landlord has been hit with a bill of some £500,000 after illegally dividing a property into eight tiny flats.
Farook Owadally, 55, bought the property – a shop with a maisonette above – in Maida Vale, London, for £965,000 in 2008.
He then converted the entire property, from its basement to its third floor into flats, some of which were just one small room. He did so without planning permission.
Over ten years, he made huge profits by charging the tenants in each flat monthly rents of £1,000, said the council.
Several flats did not meet minimum size requirements, and one was just 18 square metres.
This month, after a prolonged investigation, at Southwark Crown Court, Owadally was ordered to pay a £400,000 confiscation order under the Proceeds of Crime Act plus a £90,000 fine and £40,000 costs.
Westminster Council said it was the largest such fine it had ever imposed. It said that Owadally had ignored warnings over a period of seven years, with enforcement notices dating back to 2012.
Cllr Richard Beddoe, Westminster City Council cabinet member for place shaping and planning, said: “Unfortunately this is a straightforward case of the law catching up with an unscrupulous person.
“Our planning teams aren’t just ticking boxes and filling in forms for fun – we have planning rules for a reason, to make sure housing is fit for purpose and safe.”
Owadilly has been given three months to pay the confiscation order and six months to pay the fine and costs.
Comments (8)
id Like more detail before commenting. I’d it was 10 years of renting them like this why didn’t he apply for lawful development? What was he requested to do that he refused? What was the condition? I ask these questions because what justified the £500k fine?
It should be “Go to Jail” Mr Owadally.
Unfortunately they wont. Again this would be a drain on the system further. Should be “bye bye property Mr Owadally” and done before the property is conveniently gifted to someone else.
I would fine the Council an equal amount to reflect their inability to close this charlatan down much, much sooner.
7 Years? So this “Landlord?” was pocketing a vast annual sum of money, which could have been funding anything? ……yet we jump through regulations daily with threats for non-compliance.
It’s like a “Carry On” Film, the Council running around wagging their finger at someone who is gesturing wildly with a single digit at one & all!
Hear Hear!
Shocking made £672,000 (fully let?) since 2012, penalty £500,000 and it took them over 7 years to get him into court. “Unfortunately this is a straightforward case of the law catching up with an unscrupulous person”. Why so long?
Should confiscate the building – he’s still sitting on a £1m property
£1 Mill in 2008! Dread to think how much its worth now! Should be a confiscation of the property too.