Sentencing and confiscation in prosecutions for breaches of planning enforcement notices (R v Roth): Sarah Wood for Lexis Nexis – 5SAH

‘This case involved an appeal against a fine and a confiscation order following criminal proceedings for breach of an enforcement notice served under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA 1990). The appellant, Mr Roth, had converted a property into 12 self-contained flats without prior planning permission. His appeal against sentence was successful; insufficient credit had been given for his guilty plea in the Crown Court, where the case had been committed for the purposes of confiscation. The appeal against the confiscation order was advanced on three grounds: firstly, that the wording of the summons restricted the criminality to one day; secondly, that the rent received was not linked to the breach of the planning legislation; and thirdly, that it was disproportionate for the benefit figure to comprise the gross rental received. All three grounds were dismissed.’

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5SAH, 24th August 2020

Source: www.5sah.co.uk

Property owners found guilty over illegal sub-division of building after ten year battle with council – Local Government Lawyer

‘Two joint property owners have been found guilty of illegally sub-dividing a building into seven substandard flats in a prosecution brought by the London Borough of Camden.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 25th June 2020

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Landlord fails in bid to vacate earlier guilty plea amid claims council was improperly motivated by prospect of confiscation windfall – Local Government Lawyer

‘A landlord has failed in a judicial review challenge after he was refused permission to vacate a guilty plea in relation to an enforcement notice, amid claims that a council was improperly motivated by an expected windfall from a confiscation order.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 19th June 2020

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Defendant who claimed to be ‘Freeman of the land’ fined £15k for planning breaches – Local Government Lawyer

Posted January 7th, 2020 in enforcement notices, fines, news, planning by sally

‘A resident who claimed to be a ‘Freeman of the land’ has been fined £15,000 for refusing to remove an unlawfully built extension that covered the whole of his back garden.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 6th January 2020

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Landlord given suspended sentence and ordered to pay £300k+ after hiding families in windowless rooms – Local Government Lawyer

‘A landlord who hid families in windowless rooms after claiming to a council that he had complied with an enforcement notice has been fined £25,000 and ordered to pay a further £266,177 under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 26th March 2019

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Landlord fined £25,000 over lack of hot water for disabled tenant – The Guardian

‘The wife of Britain’s most controversial buy-to-let landlord, Fergus Wilson, has been ordered to pay £25,000 in fines and legal costs after a court ruled that she had failed to supply hot water to a disabled tenant.’

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The Guardian, 12th December 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com

London borough secures £450k confiscation over ‘beds in sheds’ – Local Government Lawyer

‘Ealing Council has obtained a confiscation order of nearly £450,000 against a landlord who ignored enforcement notices over ‘beds in sheds’ at one of her rental properties.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 26th November 2018

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Owner of unauthorised scrap yard hit for £200k in fines, costs and confiscation – Local Government Lawyer

Posted November 12th, 2018 in confiscation, costs, enforcement notices, fines, news, proceeds of crime, waste by tracey

‘The owner of an unauthorised scrap yard in South Staffordshire was last month fined £24,000 and ordered to pay court costs of £28,280 at Birmingham Crown Court.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 12th November 2018

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Judges reject appeal by planning defendant over ‘impersonation’ in magistrates court – Local Government Lawyer

‘The Court of Appeal has rejected a claim that a fine and a £4m-plus proceeds of crime order made over a planning case in Ealing should be overturned because the defendant was impersonated in the magistrates’ court.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 7th February 2018

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Landlord who delegated to husband loses appeal in enforcement notice case – Local Government Lawyer

Posted July 13th, 2017 in appeals, enforcement notices, landlord & tenant, local government, news by tracey

‘A landlord has failed in an appeal against a claim by the London Borough of Newham that she ignored enforcement notices related to her property, having argued that she had delegated all responsibility for the property concerned to her husband.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 12th July 2017

Source: localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Confiscation proceedings halted over “fatal error” in indication of guilty pleas – Local Government Lawyer

‘A council’s bid to obtain a confiscation order over planning enforcement breaches has been halted after a ruling that the indication of pleas of guilty on the two defendants’ behalf and in their presence by counsel appearing for them in the magistrates’ court was an incurable error.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 19th May 2017

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Sir Philip Green in firing line as Pensions Regulator begins enforcement action over BHS’s £571m pension deficit – Daily Telegraph

Posted November 3rd, 2016 in enforcement notices, news, parliament, pensions by tracey

‘The Pensions Regulator has begun enforcement action against a number of parties including Sir Philip Green after failing to reach a deal to plug BHS’s £571m pension deficit. In a dramatic development, the regulator, which has been in talks with Sir Philip and his Taveta group of companies over the retailer’s pension fund since BHS collapsed in late April, issued a warning notice to the Top Shop entrepreneur setting out why it believes he is liable to support the scheme.’

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Daily Telegraph, 2nd November 2016

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Moore v Secretary of State: The Consequences for Gypsy and Traveller Planning –

‘Charmaine Moore a Romani Gypsy and a single mother of 3 dependent children. She and one of her daughters are disabled. She owns and occupies land in the London Borough of Bromley. In 2010 she applied for planning permission to live on her land. That application has still to be determined finally. The application was a modest one “change of use – private Gypsy and Traveller Caravan Site comprising pitch, accommodating one mobile home and one touring caravan”. She has never sought more.’

Full story (PDF)

No. 5 Chambers, 24th April 2015

Source: www.no5.com

Untangling the spider’s web: Evans at the Supreme Court – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

‘On Friday, 27th March, the Supreme Court handed down a decision which will be as much of interest to public lawyers as information rights practitioners alike. Evans, a journalist for the Guardian newspaper utilised the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 to seek the disclosure of letters sent by Prince Charles to seven government departments between September 2004 and March 2005. The departments refused to disclose the letters (so-called “black spider” memos on account of the Prince’s handwriting) on the basis that they were exempt from doing so. In their view the letters represented private correspondence which effectively allowed the Prince to prepare for “kingship.” Evans subsequently complained to the Information Commissioner who upheld the refusal before appealing to the Information Tribunal. The Tribunal held that many of the letters should be disclosed as they constituted “advocacy correspondence.”’

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Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 31st March 2015

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Regina (Wingrove) v Stratford-on-Avon District Council – WLR Daily

Posted February 18th, 2015 in enforcement notices, law reports, local government, planning, retrospectivity by sally

Regina (Wingrove) v Stratford-on-Avon District Council [2015] EWHC 287 (Admin); [2015] WLR (D) 65

‘The wide discretionary power to refuse to determine a retrospective planning application for development subject to an enforcement notice under section 70C of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 was intended to provide local planning authorities with a tool to prevent such applications being used to delay enforcement action being taken against development. An applicant’s motive to use a retrospective application to cause such delay would clearly be a consideration in favour of a decision to invoke that discretion.’

WLR Daily, 12th February 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Court rules on power to decline to determine retrospective planning applications – Local Government Lawyer

Posted February 13th, 2015 in enforcement notices, local government, news, planning, retrospectivity by tracey

‘The High Court has issued a ruling that clarifies the scope of a local authority’s power to decline to determine a retrospective planning application when an enforcement notice is in place. The case of Wingrove v Stratford on Avon District Council [2015] EWHC 287 (Admin) was the first time the ambit of s. 70C of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 had been considered.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 12th February 2015

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Landlord ordered to pay £280k after breaching enforcement notices on flats – Local Government Lawyer

‘A landlord who built an outbuilding and converted it into six small flats without planning permission has been ordered to pay more than £280,000.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 11th November 2014

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Regina v Ali (Salah) – WLR Daily

Regina v Ali (Salah) [2014] EWCA Crim 1658; [2014] WLR (D) 366

‘It was permissible for the statutory assumptions in section 10 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to be applied in a case where a defendant was either voluntarily or involuntarily absent through illness.’

WLR Daily, 31st August 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Court threat for couple for putting up Wendy house in garden – Daily Telegraph

Posted May 27th, 2014 in enforcement notices, news, planning, retrospectivity by sally

‘Couple told they must pay £170 to get planning permission for their childrens’ wendy house or face prosecution.’

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Daily Telegraph, 26th May 2014

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Regina v Ahmed (Mohammed Kamal) – WLR Daily

Posted February 24th, 2014 in enforcement notices, law reports, planning by sally

Regina v Ahmed (Mohammed Kamal) [2014] WLR (D) 85

‘Where breach of an enforcement notice alleged unlawful change of use rather than development without planning permission, it was not appropriate to charge an offence in contravention of section 181(5) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990; the appropriate offence would be under section 179(2) of the 1990 Act.’

WLR Daily, 20th February 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk