Land at 1 High Knott Barn, Ings, Kendal, LA8 9PX

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

• whether the position with regard to local need justifies the imposition of an occupancy condition and, if so, how that condition should be worded
• whether Condition 5, as imposed, meets the legal and policy tests for planning conditions (ground (c))

What decided it

Evidence in the SHMA of a market need for larger dwellings within a wider geographical area than the original 'Locality' justified retaining an occupancy condition but with an enlarged Locality matching the South Lakeland District Council area within the National Park.

The Inspector balanced the evidence of local housing need for larger dwellings against the appellant's case for removing or substantially relaxing the occupancy restriction, concluding that a modified condition with a wider Locality reasonably reconciled the tension between market flexibility and control of open-market housing.