A man who converted his house into two flats without planning permission before renting them out for £1,500 per month has been ordered to pay £35,225.
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- Council: Slough Borough Council
- Fine: £5,000
- Costs: £10,000
- Total: £6,350
- Confiscation Order: £20,22
Baldev Singh Lall, aged 62, of Glenavon Gardens, Slough, bought the three storey house in The Crescent, Chalvey in September 2009 and by the end of the following November had converted it into two separate homes, with their own front doors, electricity supplies, cooking and washing facilities.
Slough Borough Council first became aware of the alterations after a visit from an environmental health officer in May 2010 and Mr Lall was subsequently given two months notice to return the property to a single dwelling.
But he ignored the warning and continued to rent it out as two flats.
He then went on to ignore a further two requests to reverse the changes – including a formal planning enforcement notice in December 2011 – before finally being issued with a summons in June 2013.
Mr Lall appeared before Slough Magistrates’ Court last September, where he pleaded guilty to failing to comply with the enforcement notice.
The matter was referred to Reading Crown Court for sentencing and on 2 June 2014 the court gave Mr Lall a confiscation order to pay £20,225 – the amount he had been paid in rent by tenants between the deadline date he was given to comply with the original planning enforcement notice and the date he did finally comply with it.
He was given three months to pay and faces a 13-month jail term if he fails to do so.
He was also ordered to pay prosecution costs of £10,000 and an additional fine of £5,000 for the offence, which he must also pay within three months.
Matthew Chugg, financial and risk assurance manager for Slough Borough Council, said: “Mr Lall was given plenty of warning to return his house to normal but chose to ignore planning officers and rent it out as flats.
“Anyone who knowingly flouts planning regulations, which are there to protect legitimate developers and keep occupants safe, must face the consequences.
“Now it’s only right that Mr Lall has to hand over the proceeds of his crime.”
