Landlord Fined Over Illegal Extension in Southfields
Extra accommodation for HMO was built in back garden of house
The extension before it was demolished. Picture: Wandsworth Council
April 10, 2025
A landlord and a property development company have been fined £43,000 for an illegal development in a Southfields garden.
Charles Marguiles of BMR Hemini Ltd operates more than 200 properties across the capital. He specialises in buying residential properties and converting them into Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) to rent to individual tenants.
In 2022 the company bought the house on Linstead Way and proceeded to build accommodation at the rear.
When residents objected, it emerged that no planning permission had been sought or granted for the new buildings. A retrospective application was made but this was refused by borough planners and an enforcement notice was issued for demolition.
An appeal was launched against the notice and tenants were moved into the new units.
A Government Inspector supported the council’s position but then BMR Hemini claimed it was unable to comply because the buildings already had a tenant in them.
The council began prosecution proceedings on the basis that failure to comply with the enforcement notice was an offence under the Town and Country Planning Act, It was only following a court summons that the extension was demolished, nine months after it first went up.
Despite this belated compliance, the council continued the prosecution due to the stress the neighbours had experienced.
Margulies and BMR Hemini Ltd were convicted on 24 March, at Wimbledon Magistrates Court for failure to comply with the enforcement notice. They were fined £16,000, ordered to pay the council’s legal fees of £23,554 and pay a victim surcharge of £3,600.
The judge was critical of their actions particularly placing a tenant in the building when they knew an enforcement notice was pending.
The Leader of Wandsworth council, Simon Hogg, said, “All of the actions from this landlord clearly show that they cared more about rental income than following the rules.
“The outcome of this case sends a clear message that we will not tolerate breaches of planning control in Wandsworth which ignore the impact such actions have on neighbours.”
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |