A property developer and his company have been ordered to pay nearly £485,000 after illegally converting a Westminster shop and three flats into seven undersized properties.
HAAB Development Limited and its director Sheikh Behaeddin Adil carried out the unauthorised work in the Queen's Park Estate Conservation Area.
The case, heard at Southwark Crown Court last month, resulted in substantial fines and a proceeds of crime order after both parties pleaded guilty to failing to comply with planning enforcement notices.
Westminster City Council officers first discovered the illegal conversion after investigating a complaint about a first-floor extension in May 2015.
Developer fined £485k for illegally converting three flats into SEVEN 'inadequately sized' apartments
Google Street View/Wikipedia Commons
The property, located on Harrow Road, had been transformed from a shop with three residential flats into a shop with seven"inadequately sized" studio or one-bed flats.
The unauthorised work included rear extensions to both the ground and first floors, along with extensive internal modifications.
The property lies within the Queen's Park Conservation Area, a protected zone containing 1,500 residential properties and 53 Grade II listed buildings.
Following the discovery, the council issued an enforcement notice in 2016 requiring the removal of unauthorised works and restoration of the property to its original state.
MORE LIKE THIS:
The notice was ignored, leading Westminster City Council to pursue prosecution in January 2020.
Despite employing a planning agent to address council concerns as early as October 2015, the company and its director claimed they were unaware of the authority's objections.
The enforcement notice was finally complied with in February 2023, nearly eight years after the initial complaint.
The court imposed individual fines of £9,750 each on Adil and HAAB Development Limited.
Both parties were also ordered to contribute £25,000 each towards the council's prosecution costs, totalling £50,000, to be paid within three months.
HAAB Development Limited and its director Sheikh Behaeddin Adil carried out the unauthorised work in the Queen's Park Estate Conservation Area
Google Street View
Additionally, a combined sum of £415,101.13 was ordered under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
The total financial penalties, including fines, costs, and proceeds of crime order, amounted to nearly £485,000.
Westminster City Council Cabinet Member for Planning and Economic Development, Cllr Geoff Barraclough, said the substantial fines would serve as a warning to other "unscrupulous property developers."
"Planning Enforcement is there to protect and prevent harm to our historic built environment such as the much loved Queens Park Conservation Area," he said.
"We are clear that enforcement notices will be served and must be complied with if a building owner goes ahead with development without getting planning permission first."
"I welcome this verdict, and the proceeds of crime order, as a warning to others and a reminder that Westminster Council is committed to protecting our City from unscrupulous property developers."
