Court orders property duo to pay £600K over terrible flats

Joel Salem and Judith Robinson-Dadoun face a fine of £350,000 and costs of almost £250,000 for failing to comply with an enforcement notice.

fine landlords

A landlord duo have been prosecuted by Camden Council and ordered to pay a hefty fine of £350,000 and costs of nearly £250,000 between them.

The individuals who were described as “wealthy” by a judge, failed to comply with a planning enforcement notice originally issued against substandard flats (main picture) in 2010.

Fine and costs

They were joint owners of a Camden property which they had illegally sub-divided into seven substandard flats when they only had approval for four.

A court ordered a fine of £350,000 and full costs of £247,011 in Camden’s favour against Joel Salem, aged 65, of Highview Gardens, Finchley and Judith Robinson-Dadoun, aged 57, of Brampton Grove, Hendon

Guilty

The landlord duo were previously found guilty in 2020 for their failure to comply with an enforcement notice for the property at 52 Fortune Green Road in West Hampstead (main picture).

The defendants had continued to receive rents until the property was sold in April 2021.

Both defendants bear high culpability in respect of their failure.”

Judge David Aaronberg said: “Both defendants bear high culpability in respect of their failure to have complied with the enforcement notice.

“Each was, at various times, involved in the management and running of 52 Fortune Green Road, in breach of the notice.

Concealed

“Mr Salem is a wealthy individual who has contrived, over many years, to produce an elaborate and impenetrable network of shareholdings, directorships and property assets initially in order to reduce tax liabilities and also, in the present context, to conceal his true wealth from the court.

“As with Mr Salem, I am satisfied that she [Judith Robinson-Dadoun] has concealed her true financial worth from the court”.

Pic credit: Google Streetview

Read more about HMO fines.


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