We were approached in May by a client who had just received an enforcement notice from Barnet council for the change of use of a property into a C4 house of multiple occupation.
The reasons for the issuing the notice were;
1. The change of use results in the loss of a single family dwellinghouse for which there is a known demand in the area, and the developer has not demonstrated that there is an identified need for the sort of accommodation proposed. Furthermore, the House of Multiple Occupation (HMO) use in this area which is characterised by single-family dwellings would be harmful to the local character of the area. The development would be contrary to Policies CS NPPF, CS1 and CS5 of the Barnet’s Adopted Core Strategy (2012), Policy DM01, DM08 and DM09 of the Adopted Development Management Policies DPD (2012) and the Adopted Residential Design Guidance SPD (2016).
2. The development involving conversion to an HMO for 5 separate households will harmfully increase noise, disturbance, and disruption to neighbouring residents through associated general activity in an area more used to single-family dwellings. The conversion of an existing single family dwellinghouse to an HMO for 5 persons will result in an over- intensive use that will have an adverse effect on residential amenity. The proposal would therefore be contrary to Policies CS1 and CS5 of the Local Plan Core Strategy (adopted September 2012), Policies DM01 and DM09 of the Development Management Policies DPD (adopted September 2012), the Residential Design Guidance SPD (adopted 2016) and the Sustainable Design and Construction SPD (adopted 2016).
The client had 2 options, appeal the enforcement notice, but we would have to act fast. They had been given 6 weeks from the date issued which was May 26th. Or they could comply with the notice which would include –
1. Ceasing the use of the property as a House in Multiple Occupation
2. Removing all but one kitchen, including kitchen units, sinks, cookers, and food preparation areas, from the property.
We began collating evidence to support the appeal, we found that since 1999 the property had been continually used as single room accommodation for up to five unrelated individuals without incident. The fact that the property had been used as an HMO under Use Class C4 since 1999, when, at that point, permission was not required to convert a single dwelling C3 use to a small HMO C4 use meant that permission should not be required now as the use was in place prior to the introduction of the Article 4 Direction requiring that permission be sought from changing from C3 to C4.
Furthermore, as the property had not been used as a single-family dwelling for over fifteen years, the proposal did not involve the loss of a family dwelling. Likewise, the application to use a property as it has been for a number of years cannot be deemed to impact upon the character and appearance of the area.
Our team produced a 36 page appeal statement which was submitted to the planning inspectorate along with the appeal documents.
A site visit was made on August 1st, and the decision was received on August 3rd.
We are pleased to announce the appeal was allowed and the enforcement was quashed.
Below you will find the full Planning Inspectorate Decision. If you are looking to appeal a local authority refusal contact our team today on 01743 369911 and claim your free no obligation consultation with one of our planning appeal case assessment officers.
Our team of planning appeal case assessment officers assess on average over 100 cases each per month working for architects, developers, home and landowners across England and Wales. Our unique and professional approach to planning appeals designed by our Chairman and Head of Legal Dr Robin Hooper and has a proven track record of success. This approach that weighs heavily on detail, evidence and argument is most certainly why our appeals get the results they do. Contact our planning appeal team today on 01743 369911 and claim your free no obligation consultation with one of our planning appeal case assessment officers.