Developer faces £700k confiscation order after building flats without permission

A developer who built a six-storey block of flats in London without planning permission has been hit with a £700,000 confiscation order, thought to be one of the biggest ever in relation to a planning offence.

Hackney Council served an enforcement notice in relation to the property in Hoxton in August 2011.

Garland Development Limited, and the company’s sole director Yusuf Sarodia, were sentenced last month for the offence of failing to demolish the property.

The local authority also made an application for the confiscation order under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Hackney Council will receive one third of the confiscation order, with this sum reinvested in planning enforcement. The remainder will go to the court and the Treasury.

Garland Development and Sarodia are yet to demolish the property and the council said it would consider further enforcement if action is not taken.

Cllr Guy Nicholson, Hackney’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration, said: “Anyone who thinks they have a right to build a property in Hackney without first obtaining planning permission must realise that the council will take action against those who flout the rules.

“Putting up a building without planning permission is not only breaching planning law but to be quite frank puts at risk the safety of residents and neighbouring properties.”