A man has been ordered to pay £1.2m for converting a house in Waldegrave Road in Ealing into flats as well as an extension without planning permission and then failing to comply with Ealing Council orders to cease using the property and demolish the unauthorised extension.
Ali Bahbahani, of no fixed address, failed to appear at Isleworth Crown Court on 25 January 2024 and as part of the confiscation order, Ealing Council will be recovering over £16,000 in unpaid council tax and business rate bills on top of the £1,283,444 he was ordered to pay.
Justin Morley, the council’s head of legal services said: “This is quite a remarkable case, given the size of the confiscation order. It reflects not only the time and hard work that officers invested in this case, but also the commitment to go through the proper legal channels.”
Since 2013, Ealing Council has issued a number of court applications to restore the house to its original condition and during court proceedings it was revealed that someone impersonating Mr Bahbahani had attended the initial hearings.
Councillor Shital Manro, cabinet member for good growth and new housing said: “This was a flagrant abuse of the planning system. You must make sure you have planning permission for major changes of any sort to your property. Failure to do so will result in court action and, as we have seen, can be very costly.”
Ealing Council has said the property is now owned by someone new and it is working with them to resolve the illegal building works that were carried out.
