Uxbridge woman ordered to pay £28,000 over two-storey extension built without permission

An Uxbridge woman has been ordered to pay more than £28,000 for failing to comply with a Hillingdon Council enforcement notice. The notice required her to take down a two-storey wraparound extension built without planning permission.

Daljit Kaur, of Midhurst Gardens, admitted breaching the enforcement notice when she appeared at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court on Friday 18 September.

She was fined £15,000 and ordered to pay a £600 victim surcharge and £12,427 towards the council's costs, a total of £28,027.

How the case unfolded

The court heard that on 3 February 2025 the council's planning enforcement team were tipped off that a two-storey extension was being built at 104 Windsor Avenue, Uxbridge, and on the land next to it.

Council officers made an unannounced visit the next day. They confirmed that building work was under way and noted scaffolding poles hanging over the pavement.

On 17 February 2025 the council was told that a double-storey side extension was being added, although permission had only been granted for a single storey. A new entrance had also been put in.

According to the council, the new entrance suggested the extension was being turned into a separate home. The council had already refused planning permission for that twice in three months.

On 8 April 2025 the council served an enforcement notice. It required the unauthorised building to be demolished by 20 August 2025.

When officers made another unannounced visit on 2 December 2025, the extension was still standing. The council then brought the prosecution.

What the judge and the council said

When passing sentence, Deputy District Judge Woodcock said Kaur had shown "reckless disregard" for the planning authority's decision.

Cllr Adam Bennett, Hillingdon Council's Cabinet Member for Community, Environment and Enforcement, said: "We refuse to let residents run roughshod over a planning system that is in place to ensure development in our borough remains safe, high quality and best protects local communities."

He added: "To press on with a development that has twice been refused planning permission was foolish."

What happens next

The extension will not be knocked down completely. The council and Kaur have agreed to change it so that it matches a planning application that was approved earlier. The work is due to be finished by 31 December.

Hillingdon Council has taken a number of similar cases to court in recent years. Earlier cases have included fines for unauthorised extensions and for houses illegally converted into flats or houses in multiple occupation.

Failing to comply with an enforcement notice is a criminal offence under the Town and Country Planning Act. Planning permission is a separate matter from building regulations approval. Homeowners planning an extension can check what is allowed on the council's website or ask the council's planning service before work starts.