Highlights
- Jagdishbhai and Minaxiben Patel face £900,000 confiscation order plus fines and costs.
- Family illegally converted Greenford Avenue property into five dwellings without permission.
- Ealing Council tightens HMO controls borough-wide following successful prosecution.
A family of landlords in London has been ordered to pay more than £900,000 for illegally converting a property and breaking planning laws after a six-year legal battle with Ealing Council.
Isleworth Crown Court ordered Jagdishbhai Patel, Minaxiben Patel, their son Alpesh Patel of Hanwell, and daughter Parul Patel of Perivale to pay £929,621.11 including a confiscation order, fines, victim surcharge and prosecution costs.
The council served two planning enforcement notices in August 2019 for extensions completed without permission at the family's Greenford Avenue property.
One notice demanded the family stop using an outbuilding as a self-contained flat, while the other required ending the use of first and second floors as four self-contained flats, including removal of kitchen and bathroom facilities.
After an appeal was rejected by the planning inspectorate, the family was instructed to restore the property by October 2020. However, warning letters went ignored and a council warrant visit in April 2022 found continued non-compliance.
The four flats and illegal outbuilding were being let to tenants, with the defendants profiting from rental income throughout.
All four owners were summoned to court in January 2023 but failed to appear. They pleaded guilty in June that year to failing to comply with enforcement notices, though attempts to change pleas and missed hearings caused further delays.
A July 2025 enforcement visit confirmed the property remained non-compliant, with council tax records showing all five dwellings occupied and generating rental income.
Legal penalties imposed
Jagdishbhai and Minaxiben Patel received a £900,217.11 confiscation order, £4,500 fines each, £8,000 legal costs each, and £181 victim surcharges.
Siblings Alpesh and Parul Patel, deemed less culpable, were ordered to pay £21 victim surcharges and £2,000 costs each.
A council spokesperson noted "The outcome of this prosecution sends a clear message that we will not tolerate illegal property conversions that undermine our planning system and put residents at risk."
In November, Ealing Council tightened planning controls borough-wide, requiring all new houses of multiple occupation to apply for planning permission.
