Crown Court orders landlord behind “micro flats” conversion to pay £280k
A Crown Court judge has ordered a landlord to pay more than £280,000 in fines, confiscation order and costs after he ignored an enforcement notice by Ealing Council to return a home to its former condition.
The landlord, Krzysztof Pogwizd, pleaded guilty to breaching the enforcement notice, which required him to reverse his conversion of a semi-detached house into five self-contained "micro flats".
The council issued its enforcement notice in early 2020, requiring the landlord to stop letting the property as five self-contained flats and begin removing the kitchens, bathrooms and drainage connections from four of the flats.
In addition, it called on the landlord to remove all internal doors, partitions, and locks.
He did not appeal the notice, leading the council to expect him to comply with it.
However, in July 2022, the landlord submitted a planning application to convert the property into four self-contained flats, with cycle storage and car parking spaces. This application was refused in August that year.
On 6 October 2022, planning enforcement and police officers inspected the property after gaining a warrant.
Ealing said the officers found that the property was still occupied by multiple tenants and was, therefore, in violation of the original enforcement notice.
On 5 September 2023, Pogwizd was summoned to Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court, where he pleaded guilty for breaching the requirements of the enforcement notice.
The matter was referred to Isleworth Crown Court and, on 21 October 2024, he was ordered to pay a confiscation order of £259,920.51, a £12,000 fine, a victim surcharge of £2,000, and costs of £8,994.56 – a total of £282,915.07.
The size of the financial penalty reflects the scale of profit that Pogwizd had made from letting the micro-flats after being told to stop doing so.
In March 2023, Pogwizd obtained planning permission for the legal conversion of the property into three self-contained flats.
Cllr Shital Manro, the council’s cabinet member for good growth and new housing, said: " The overwhelming majority of landlords are law-abiding and play a vital part in the local housing market, but a tiny minority continue to put their tenants at risk by forcing them to live in cramped, sub-standard living conditions."
Adam Carey
