Couple told to stop work on new house until council bill is paid

A Hove couple who knocked down a house and began building a new one without permission were told to halt work on it this month.

Habib and Jade Esmaeili demolished the house in Hill Brow, Hove, after work to extend it – which had planning permission – made it unstable.

An application to knock it down and build a new one followed in March 2022, in which they claimed a self build exemption from paying community infrastructure levy (CIL) – a contribution developers are required to make to fund local services – on the basis this address was their home.

But the council told them they could not claim this exemption because development had started without permission, which invalidates it.

The application was amended to just cover the demolition, and a second application just to build the new house followed in July 2022, again applying for the self build CIL exemption.

But the Esmaeili’s again did not wait for permission to be granted before starting work.

In August 2022, the council became aware of this, and in December 2022, sent them a CIL bill for £79,042.88, saying that starting work without waiting for the second application to be approved means the exemption was lost.

In February 2023, a late payment surcharge of £3,952 was added to the bill. By January this year, the Esmaeili’s had still not paid up, and so a warning notice was displayed at the site.

On 8 February, a stop notice was issued, requiring all work at the site be stopped until the bill is settled.

Yesterday, the money was finally paid and the stop notice was withdrawn.

Mrs Esmaeili told Brighton and Hove News they were still disputing the bill, and considered taking legal action against the council.

She said: “We were told CIL was exempt and once granted in July it would remain exempt.

“The demand notices were responded to immediately with something like 72 emails over the dated period and up until now, questioning and demanding answers as to why it is now not CIL exempt, why there is a demand, can a payment plan be set up during the dispute period.”

She added: “There is a much bigger picture here in which the council are issuing CIL demands to local families and we are not the only ones.”

The notice said: “On 18 August 2022, it came to the attention of the council that the above development had materially commenced prior to the grant of the planning permission.

“By commencing development prior to this permission being granted, the right to any community infrastructure levy self-build exemption was lost, along with any payment installments.”

Mr Esmaeilis is the sole director and owner of a company called HE Developments Ltd, whose logo is displayed along with a large picture of an artist’s impression of the finished build outside the address.

Mrs Esmaeili, 37, is the company secretary of a company called New Real Estate, which her husband was director of until June 1, 2022 the day she was appointed. There are currently no directors.

She is also a director of a company called Esdem Developments Ltd. Her husband was also a director of that company – again resigning on the day she was appointed, 19 October 2023.

The couple applied for planning permission to redevelop and extend a house three doors down from 57 Hill Brow in 2017.