The Rogue Landlord and Community Safety Project, submitted by the London Borough of Hounslow, was awarded the Editor's Award at a ceremony held in London tonight.
The event was attended by 300 people and took place at a venue in London’s West End.
The Editor’s Award is given to the entry that is judged to be the most outstanding of all the category winners.
The project also won the Award for Enforcement, sponsored by Ivy Legal.
In January 2013, the borough responded to problems with unscrupulous landlords using unauthorised back garden shacks and sheds to offer accommodation by setting up a taskforce to tackle the issue. Over the next 18 months, it visited 3,540 dwellings, issued 400 planning contravention notices, brought 45 illegal dwellings out of use and fined transgressing landlords a total of more than £165,000.
The entry was felt to have demonstrated clear evidence of protecting vulnerable people in a west London community from the effect of unauthorised development.
Elsewhere, the Award for Neighbourhood Planning/Public Participation in Planning, Sponsored by Locality, went to the Winsford Neighbourhood Plan, submitted by Tibbalds Planning and Urban Design.
The Award for Planning Consultancy of the Year, Sponsored by Thorncliffe, went to Deloitte Real Estate, and the Award for Planning for Housing Growth went to Barton Park, Oxford, submitted by Barton Oxford LLP, Aecom & Terence O'Rourke.
The Award for Planning Law Firm of the Year, Sponsored by CGMS, part of RPS, went to Mills & Reeve, and the Award for Planning Permission of the Year, Sponsored by Border Archaeology, went to Wellesley, Aldershot, submitted by Grainger.
Full details of all the awards winners and commendations can be found here.
