Slough landlord receives suspended prison term

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Criminal Record:

A Slough landlord, fifty seven years old Talwinder Singh,
tried to hide whole families in his rented accommodation with no windows, when
his efforts to gain proper planning approval failed.

For this breach of the planning and safety laws Singh received
a 15-month prison term at Reading Crown Court, which was suspended for 18
months.

Singh was ordered to undertake 200 hours of unpaid work over
12 months, and in addition, he was fined £25,000 and ordered to pay £266,177.
The fine represented the rent money and unpaid council tax that he had obtained
by his illegal activities.

Singh had originally applied for planning permission to create
a block of six flats, but was turned down. But he disregarded the ruling and continued
to develop the flats in the building on Waterbeach Road in Slough.  Even though Singh was subsequently served a
planning enforcement notice by the council in September 2010, he carried on
regardless and rented out six flats to tenants.

In his attempt to deceive the authorities, Singh claimed
that he had converted the property to a single dwelling as the enforcement
notice required, and he informed the council accordingly.

Further, Singh had constructed kitchens in the flats which
could be easily removed when council officials visited for inspections, and he
removed windows on his top floor attic flats, which meant that the tenants
living there with children were without natural light.

Despite claiming that this was a single dwelling and paying
council tax accordingly, Singh was charging his tenants individually an
additional council tax fee.

The flats have since been returned to their permitted use as
a single or dual dwelling, according to the original planning permission.

Slough Council’s Director of Regeneration Joe Cart told the Slough & South Bucks Observer:

“People and families in Slough deserve good accommodation
and landlords who are not overcharging them for services they are not
providing.

 â€œSuch a successful
outcome shows how the council will not tolerate such flagrant disregard of its
planning regulations.�

Neil Wilcox, Director of Finance and Resources, added:

“This successful prosecution is a result of a thorough and
painstaking investigation by the Council’s Fraud Team and has led to the
recovery of a significant amount of lost council tax.

“Singh told the tenants he was paying their council tax when
it actually went directly into his pocket.

“He was prepared to inconvenience tenants, some of whom had young children, by removing evidence from the flats and making them go without kitchen facilities, in an attempt to defraud the council.�

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