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Landlord fined over illegal conversion
A landlord has been fined £3,120 after a seven year council and legal wrangle over an illegal property conversion.
Back in 2007 Akbar Jhetam applied for permission to turn a shop in Walthamstow into a family home, according to a report in local newspaper the Waltham Forest Guardian.
As the building already contained a flat above and permission was subsequently granted in 2008. However, during a site visit in 2009, council officers found Jhetam had created two apartments rather than one house.
Jhetam, who operates a repairs garage at the back of the building, was served with an enforcement notice ordering him to return the building back to its original state.
Several unsuccessful appeals followed during which – according to Jhetam’s legal representative – the landlord believed he had been given planning consent.
However, Walthamstow magistrates claimed they were “not convinced we have heard all of the truth” and fined Jhetam £3,120.
