A ROGUE Hillingdon landlord who failed to stop renting out a bed in a shed has finally had the property demolished four years after first being prosecuted.

Hillingdon council demolished landlord Darshan Kingra’s Windsor Avenue ‘bed in a shed’ on October 19 after she ignored two previous prosecutions. 

Kingra was renting out the illegal shed to tenants when she was first prosecuted by Hillingdon council in 2011 for ‘operating an unfit house in multiple occupation’.

She also later faced prosecution under planning laws and was found guilty in May and fined £7,500.

However Kingra’s illegal shed still stood, the council finally took decisive action this month when the council’s planning team had the building demolished.

Councillor Keith Burrows, member for planning, was adamant about stopping this type of criminal activity happening again.

He said: “The council will always clamp down on rogue landlords and recoup all costs incurred.

“In this particular case, we gave more than enough reasonable notice to this individual and she ignored the law on more than one occasion, resulting in the council taking the necessary action.

“We will keep being vigilant to stop this from happening in the future.”

Hillingdon council has a strong stance on breaches of planning control such as unauthorised building works and outbuildings which a bed in shed would come under.

Illegal buildings such as beds in sheds are becoming a growing problem in London, research by Countrywide in August showed the average rent prices in the UK reaching £937 a month in July. 

The illegal shacks are constructed without permission from councils and provide very poor living condition to tenants that are highly dangerous to live in.

Picture courtesy of Michael, with thanks