London agent fined over £12k for role in illegal HMO

A London estate agent has been fined over £12,000 for the role they played in illegally running a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) and the landlord ordered to pay over £33,000 in costs by Barking and Dagenham Council (public building pictured).

Ilford-based Woodland Property Management Limited had been managing the three-bedroom HMO for landlord Mrs Husna Patel when it was identified by Barking and Dagenham Council’s Private Sector Housing Team as having not been granted or applied for to change the property from a single dwelling.

ENFORCEMENT

The landlord was sent letters in January and March 2019 making her aware of the planning regulation requirements, however these were ignored and an Enforcement Notice was served in April 2019 requiring the use of the HMO to be ceased within six months.

On the 8th January 2020, an inspection by Barking and Dagenham Planning Enforcement and Investigation Officers discovered that the property was still being occupied by two unrelated families who were sharing kitchen and bathroom facilities.

Patel of Cavendish Gardens, Ilford and Woodland Property Management Limited were summoned to Barkingside Magistrates Court in May last year but Patel failed to attend and a warrant not backed for bail was issued.

CUSTODY

Further investigations from the council’s Special Investigations Team resulted in Mrs Patel surrendering to custody in June 2022.

Husna Patel was ordered to pay a £5,000 fine, costs of £1,542.50 and £27,000 under the Proceeds of Crime legislation totalling £33,542.50.

Woodland Property Management Limited was ordered to pay a fine of £7,500, costs of £1,542.50 and £3,000 under the Proceeds of Crime legislation, totalling £12,042.50.

They’re now paying the price with a huge fine.”

Councillor Syed Ghani, Barking and Dagenham Cabinet Member of Enforcement and Community Safety said: “Landlords operating in Barking and Dagenham must follow the rules we’ve set out to ensure that tenants are looked after properly.

 “This particular landlord and property management company failed to do this and completely ignored requests from our officers. They’re now paying the price with a huge fine.”

Woodland Property Management Limited blamed a lack of communication between both Barking and Dagenham’s licensing and planning departments.

They told The Neg that while they had applied for a licence there was a prior enforcement on the property that they had no knowledge of.

The reason the landlord failed to attend the warrant was she never knew about it.”

They added: “Woodland were never served any notice and the landlord was served notice to the property in question and never received the notices. The reason the landlord failed to attend the warrant was she never knew about it and when Woodland were requested to attend the court we had no idea the landlord was involved.

“Neither the landlord or Woodland ignored any requests from any officers as we were not aware of this matter.”

MISUSE

“It is a complete misuse of the legal system as firstly no crime was intentionally committed as we always apply for the licence first and once granted and we know numbers the landlord would apply for the planning.

If the two departments worked hand-in-hand this would not have happened.”

“Planning is pointless if a licence is not granted as we would have to revert to a family use so if the two departments worked hand in hand this would not have happened.

“It is also bizarre that Woodland were not served notice but caught up in the chain and we cannot apply for planning so again this was never our responsibility.”