A judge at Norwich Crown Court has ordered a Brent landlord to pay the record sum of £1.438 million for turning a house into 12 flats without planning consent following a two year intensive investigation by Brent Council.

Salah Ali 52, of 67 Carlton Avenue East, Wembley must pay the sum within six months or face a ten year prison sentence. The order by the court follows a prosecution brought by planning enforcement officers from Brent Council against the landlord who had continuously flouted planning regulations in the borough for over ten years.

Brents Planning Enforcement Team used powers that enable councils to seek to recover the proceeds of crime. The case related to the failure to comply with the requirements of a planning enforcement notice for a property on Willesden Lane which had been converted from one house into 12 flats.

The £1.438 million order is believed to be the highest confiscation order granted for a planning offence in the country and is based on the assumed benefit that Mr Ali received by breaching planning regulations.

Mr Ali of Carlton Avenue East, Wembley, was also ordered to pay a fine of £4000 for the breach of the planning regulations and legal costs of almost £35,000. Brent Council will receive 37.5% of the money and the rest will go to the Treasury and the court collection agency. A restraint order has also been placed on Mr Ali to prevent him from disposing of his assets before he fulfils his obligations and pays the £1.438 million