Rogue landlord who put 28 flats in four houses ordered to give back rent (From Harrow Times)
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Rogue landlord who put 28 flats in four houses ordered to give back rent
4:08pm Monday 9th July 2012 in News
By David Hardiman, Reporter
A landlord who crammed 28 flats into just four houses, flouting planning regulations, has been fined £320,000.
Vispasp Sarkari, 50, turned the four houses in Kenmore Road, Kenton, Nolton Place, Edgware, High Road, Wealdstone, and London Road, Wembley, into the flats, not following regulations in both Harrow and Brent.
After he was convicted of putting four flats in a terraced house in Wembley, planning officers at both councils took Sarkari to court to reclaim rent paid by the tenants who lived in the properties since 2005.
The cash will be shared between the Government, councils and trading standards authorities.
Harrow Council’s cabinet member for planning, Councillor Keith Ferry, said: “I am delighted that we have been able to send out a clear message that we will not allow people to profit from illegal conversions.
“This landlord ignored planning rules designed to ensure that the quality of accommodation in the boroughs is maintained and that the environment for surrounding residents is protected.”
Comments(9)
Sue Anderson
says...
7:58am Tue 10 Jul 12
mamma mia 66
says...
11:30am Tue 10 Jul 12
However the £320,000 fine should have been used for the homeless or charity,s such as children's cancer care rather than local authority,s who make fortunes from rent & council tax as rent received by private landlords do not usually go to the local authority but the landlords own greedy pockets..
There are so many people living on the streets with no homes to go to & time & time again we hear of family's struggling to raise funds to pay for their children to go to America for cancer treatment while greedy landlords with bulging wallets obtain money illegally
jackdaw
says...
1:12pm Tue 10 Jul 12
Well done to the planning officers who prosecuted this odious individual, helped the tenants and reclaimed the money.
harvey_uk
says...
3:54pm Tue 10 Jul 12
Grumblepop
says...
7:29pm Wed 11 Jul 12
Why could Barnet council not have taken this extent of court proceedings against the Beis Hamedrash Elyon school in Golders Green which ran for 9 years without planning permission.”
ASK Barnet?
"mamma mia 66 says...
than local authority,s who make fortunes from rent & council tax " ... and further "
There are so many people living on the streets with no homes to go to & time & time again we hear of family's struggling to raise funds to pay for their children to go to America"
1) Council rent and tax including housing benefit is subsidised by Government via the taxpayer and administered by local council/government. Monies recovered quite correctly goes back to local agencies so that they have money to do just what you ask, house the homeless. 2) Fines for breach of Planning rules covers the costs for prosecuting the landlord.
paisley
says...
6:58am Thu 12 Jul 12
arfamo
says...
11:19am Thu 12 Jul 12
Clearly from his name he is from a different culture to us one where maybe people do not enjoy the same the same living standards as we do.
As mamma mia 66 above says, there are many homeless people living on the streets. Maybe this is due to excessive regulations that normally would prevent good people from sharing their accomodation.
Looked at this way, maybe Vispasp Sarkari was doing a very good thing? Maybe he was enabling hard working immigrants to send money back home to help their families? ....Just a thought!!!
harvey_uk
says...
6:20pm Thu 12 Jul 12
arfamo wrote:Arfamo you idiot, what are you implying by "Clearly from his name he is from a different culture to us one where maybe people do not enjoy the same the same living standards as we do"? If the name was Jane Smith and lived in Newcastle in a block of council high rise flats paid for free (by your taxes if you pay any), as she was a single parent 4 times over with 4 different dads, is that your standard of living? This chap was making considerable sums from no doubt immigrant workers looking for cheap accommodation which is required in London. I doubt his standard of living was bad considering the amount of rent he collected from the multiple houses he owned.
By applying some simple maths we can see that the landlord might well have been charging the extremely reasonable rent of just over £158 a month.
Clearly from his name he is from a different culture to us one where maybe people do not enjoy the same the same living standards as we do.
As mamma mia 66 above says, there are many homeless people living on the streets. Maybe this is due to excessive regulations that normally would prevent good people from sharing their accomodation.
Looked at this way, maybe Vispasp Sarkari was doing a very good thing? Maybe he was enabling hard working immigrants to send money back home to help their families? ....Just a thought!!!
The council only went after him as they realised the large sums they could claim off him otherwise I doubt the CPS would have prosecuted the case as it would not have been economically viable.
Sonoo Malkani says...
2:42am Tue 10 Jul 12