Property lawyer fined £10,000 for running bedsit with 'kitchen in the garden shed'

A property lawyer has been fined £10,000 by magistrates for running an illegal bedsit with a “kitchen in the garden shed”.

Solicitor Suhasini Gurusinghe was taken to court after ignoring requests to renew her House in Multiple Occupancy licence for the £650,000 property in London Road, Wembley.

Brent council also found the illegal kitchen extension, which along with the dangerous state of the house was a factor in the fine.

Gurusinghe, 57, who is a partner at Wembley law firm Gurusinghe & Co, today claimed that the council had sent licence renewal letters to the wrong address, adding: “It’s a very unfortunate situation.”

An inspection found that the ramshackle kitchen was in danger of collapse — and that electricity was set up using leads from the house which was “in danger of catching fire” due to the proximity of gas canisters.

According to court documents, inspectors also found six tenants, each paying £300-£550 a month, a broken front door and no fire safety measures or certificates for gas and electricity. Gursinghe, of Kingsbury, was fined at Willesden magistrates’ court for breaching Section 61 of the Housing Act 2004 by not having a valid licence to rent out the property. She was also ordered to pay £2,000 costs and £170 victim surcharge.

The lawyer said a tenant had set up the kitchen without her knowledge, adding: “I feel very hard done by.”

Harbi Farah, Brent cabinet member for housing, said: “Serious harm could have been caused to these tenants due to the condition of the property if we had not intervened.”