Punjab-origin landlord billed £16,000 as illegal unit’s demolition cost in UK

The council began the proceedings after receiving a tip-off in May 2017. The owner was issued planning enforcement notice and after several exchanges and warning letters, the structure was knocked down by the council.

The Ealing Council has handed a Punjab-origin landlord in Southall a £16,000 bill after it demolished an illegally constructed structure in his property that he refused to dismantle after being requested to do so by the council over two years.

HT Image

Rapinder Sehajpal has been described by the council as a ‘slum landlord’, which refers to landlords letting out parts of their properties illegally to tenants in conditions that may or may not be hygienic.

It said on Monday that Sehajpal now owes the council £16,000 as the cost of demolishing the illegal outbuilding in her property.

“The 45-square-metre outbuilding had been built without planning permission and then illegally let to a family. The demolition came after several rounds of legal interventions by the council over a two-year period were disregarded by Sehajpal,” the council said.

The council began the proceedings after receiving a tip-off in May 2017. The owner was issued planning enforcement notice and after several exchanges and warning letters, the structure was knocked down by the council.

“As we have seen in many cases across the capital, illegal outbuildings are damaging to our neighbourhoods and pose a very real health hazard for those living in them. I am therefore pleased to see a robust approach to enforcement in this case, with Sehajpal paying a heavy price for flouting planning regulations,” she added.