Landlord hit with £300k-plus bill for multiple planning breaches

A landlord who failed to comply with a number of planning enforcement notices issued by a London council has been ordered to pay more than £300,000.

William Lao owned 16 properties in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. He had added roof and garden extensions to seven of his properties, which were near Leyton tube station.

According to the council, in some cases the works almost doubled the size of the properties. Each property had been converted into flats.

Lao failed to apply for planning permission for the works so Waltham Forest served him with a number of planning enforcement notices under the Town & Country Planning Act. The defendant failed to restore the properties to their original state.

At a hearing at Snaresbrook Crown Court on 30 January, Lao’s advocate said his client recognised he had made a “huge mistake”.

The defendant was fined £73,500. This comprised £10,000 for each of the seven enforcement notices, £3,000 for breaches of the Houses in Multiple Occupation regulations, and £500 relating to an improvement notice and a failure to disclose ownership.

The court also imposed a confiscation order of £217,758 and ordered Lao to pay £10,000 towards Waltham Forest’s costs.

Lao has six months in which to pay. If he fails to do so, he will be subject to a default of 30 months’ imprisonment.

Cllr Clyde Loakes, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environment at Waltham Forest, said: “Some of the issues date back almost five years. So we’re really pleased to have finally brought this rogue landlord to account and seen him rightly punished for a catalogue of breaches.”