Shrewsbury property broker jailed over home improvement fraud that cost victims £1 million

Richard James Nicholls, 38, of Hotspur Street in Shrewsbury, was jailed for three years at Inner London Crown Court, after a prosecution from Southwark Council.

Nicholls, who was a director at Shrewsbury-based firm, The Property Advantage, has also been given a six-year disqualification as a director.

The case centred on his role as a builder in London, leaving homeowners with a string of unfinished extensions and shoddy home improvement projects, across Southwark and beyond, from 2016 to 2018. The estimated loss to eleven victims was more than £1.1 million – including the cost of putting his bodged work right. Nicholls admitted four charges – one of fraud and three of fraudulent trading.

Southwark’s trading standards team said he, and the four companies he managed, had come to their attention after customers reported he took large sums of money up front, for work never completed, and in some cases never started.

Nicholls told one client who had already paid him £90,000, that he would only be able to finish their job, when he received funds from a new client, for another project.

The same client had to spend a further £150,000 to correct and complete Nicholls’ work, because the foundations laid were only half the depth they needed to be.

Building work for another family’s kitchen overran again and again, forcing them to live in their living room, with just a microwave to cook meals. The work was never finished by Nicholls.

During an interview with Southwark trading standards, Nicholls said his background was estate agency and sales and admitted having no formal building work qualifications.

Analysis of his bank records carried out by council financial investigators, showed that he had used £52,000 received from customers for online gambling purposes.

One of his victims, Owen Rees, said: “It really doesn’t feel like five years ago that Richard Nicholls came into our lives and ultimately ruined them for a substantial period of time. His lies, deceit, and total lack of moral compass left my wife and I emotionally and financially traumatised.”

He added: “Towards the end of our dealings with Richard Nicholls, the stress caused by his greed and sheer ineptitude as a building contractor caused my wife to suffer panic attacks whilst heavily pregnant with our first son. Despite me pleading with him at the time to make right his wrongs and telling him what we were going through, he disappeared into thin air.

“We had to borrow the money stolen by Richard from our family to complete the job, which ultimately meant selling the house and leaving London to pay back the loan. Had we not had this support, we would have lost everything.

“I would describe dealing with Richard as the darkest period in our married life and one we’ll never forget. What upset me almost more than being conned was the total lack of remorse from Richard. He blamed everyone but himself and then disappeared.”

Councillor Dora Dixon-Fyle, Southwark Cabinet Member for Community Safety, said: “I am pleased that the Courts recognise the seriousness of the crimes Nicholls committed. The prison sentence also reflects the terrible impact his failures had on his clients.

“This case highlights how important it is for trading standards to tackle fraudulent behaviour, which too often impacts on vulnerable people.

“I congratulate our trading standards officers for their determination in bringing this man to justice and thank all involved in the investigation.”

The scale of the investigation was such that Southwark received funding from National Trading Standards (NTS), which also helped take witness statements from victims.

Trish Burls, Chair of the National Trading Standards Tri Regional Investigation Team said: “Nicholls preyed on his victims under a veil of lies, false claims and deceit. He deliberately misled people into agreeing to home improvement works that he was not qualified to carry out, leaving victims distressed and out of pocket by tens of thousands of pounds.

“This sentence sends a clear message that, in the long-run, fraudulent trading does not pay – instead, it ends behind bars.”