\n
\n
![\"North](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Untitled-design-1-e1749297433790.png\" "\\"North")
<\/p>\nLandlord fined \u00a375,000 for illegally letting flats on Airbnb and Booking.com<\/p>\n
A landlord has been fined \u00a375,000 plus costs after illegally letting two flats in North Finchley for short-term rentals through Airbnb and Booking.com.<\/p>\n
George Nathanel, who managed the properties on behalf of Zenobia Properties, was ordered to stop using the flats for short-term bookings after Barnet Council issued a notice in November 2023. The action followed complaints from neighbours about noise and disruption.<\/p>\n
The flats, located on Grove Road, had planning permission to be used as \u2018self-contained, single household\u2019 homes since January 2016. However, council inspections found they were being advertised online for short stays by large groups, often hosting parties.<\/p>\n
Neighbours reported significant noise disturbances, with loud music into the early hours and no sound proofing to the party wall.<\/p>\n
Victim statements read in court described the impact on residents. One neighbour called the situation \u201cstressful and devastating,\u201d saying it had a \u201cdetrimental impact on his life, his work and mental health\u201d and that it \u201chad severely impacted his ability to sleep and has made living in the property unbearable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evidence presented by prosecutors showed the flats had been occupied for at least 220 days in the first 10 months of 2024.<\/p>\n
Nathanel did not attend court hearings, saying he was living in Russia with his children and awaiting an operation. In early correspondence, he claimed he was unaware of the short-term rentals and tried to blame what he described as \u2018long-term tenants.\u2019 However, Airbnb reviews described him as \u201can amazing, attentive and responsive host,\u201d and listings remained live on the booking websites.<\/p>\n
On 26 June 2025, Willesden Magistrates\u2019 Court found Nathanel guilty of failing to comply with a Breach of Condition Notice. He was fined \u00a375,000, ordered to pay \u00a35,400 in council costs, and a victim surcharge of \u00a32,000.<\/p>\n
Cllr Ross Houston, Cabinet Member for Homes and Regeneration, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cWe gave Mr Nathanel ample opportunity to stop using the properties as short term rentals, but were left with no alternative but to take him to court when he didn\u2019t stop.<\/p>\n
\u201cBarnet Council clamps down hard on rogue landlords and where they don\u2019t cooperate, we will always bring them to justice.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would like to thank the residents who brought this case to our attention. This is a great result for the neighbours whose lives were made a misery by the illegal letting of these flats on Airbnb and Booking.com. The prosecution and huge fine highlights the seriousness of the case and will be a strong deterrent to other rogue landlords from breaking the rules in the borough of Barnet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udce9
\n
\n <\/p>\n
Get the latest breaking news, roadworks, crime updates and local events straight to your inbox \u2013 totally free, every day.<\/p>\n
SIGN UP below<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Landlord fined \u00a375,000 for illegally letting flats on Airbnb and Booking.com A landlord has been fined \u00a375,000 plus…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":241024,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[32316,93769,748,393,43270,4884,7833,257,7834,12,54893,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-241023","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-barnet","9":"tag-barnet-council","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-finchley","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-harrow-online","15":"tag-london","16":"tag-london-news","17":"tag-news","18":"tag-news-in-barnet","19":"tag-uk","20":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114802659562216379","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241023"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241023\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}