Dubai Cafe: company owning Curry Mile building has £174k confiscated after shisha cafe breached planning laws

The company which owns a building on the Curry Mile in Manchester has been hit with a huge financial penalty after the address was used as a shisha cafe and breached planning regulations.

Dubai Cafe, on Wilmslow Road in Rusholme, carried out work without getting planning permission and then did not comply with an enforcement notice, a court hearing was told.

T&M Property Investment, which has a long lease on the building, has had £174,000 of proceeds confiscated and also has to pay a five-figure fine following the legal action. Manchester City Council said the building had been operating illegally as a shisha cafe for years and the business had ignored official warnings from the town hall to stop.

Why did the council take the property company to court over the shisha cafe?

T&M Property Investment, which has a 999-year lease on the building being used as the Dubai Cafe and lets it out, was sentenced after pleading guilty at Manchester Crown Court at a hearing on Friday 5 May to planning-related offences.

The court was told that the council first became aware the Dubai Cafe was operating as a shisha venue without having planning permission in place in September 2018. The council officers also found that work had been carried out to alter the premises’ interior and this had also been done without planning permission.

An enforcement notice was issued ordering the landlord to cease operating as a shisha café and remove any works that had not been approved by planners.

The council says it made various attempts to enforce the notice, including entering the premises on two occasions to seize shisha pipes and tobacco, but this had no effect and it was still running as a shisha venue four years later.

T&M Property Investment was fined £18,750 and ordered to pay court costs of £5,700. The council also worked with financial investigators from Salford City Council to use the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA), which allows the court to issue confiscation orders for money generated by illegal activities, against the company.

In this case the result was the court ordering the confiscation of £174,074.79. The company has until 4 August to pay everything it now owes to the authorities.

What has Manchester City Council said?

Coun Gavin White, executive member for housing and development at the council, said: “These premises had been operating illegally as a shisha café for a number of years and despite receiving enforcement notices from the council to stop, they continued and have now been held to account through the courts.

“Local residents have had to put up with this criminal activity for too long and this judgement – along with the confiscation of their illegally obtained profit – sends a clear message to other businesses flagrantly breaking the law that we are looking for you and we will prosecute. This case also shows that landlords can’t hide behind their tenants – they will be held responsible for criminality in their property.

“Operating a premises without the correct permissions is not only illegal but can also be dangerous. It’s a welcome result following months of hard work to bring a prosecution and ensure this property is safe.”