Flats 1 - 5, 238 North Circular Road, Stonebridge, LONDON, NW10 0JU

Without planning permission, the material change of use of the premises to a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) and flats

Authority: London Borough of Brent
Appeal type: enforcement · Enforcement Notice
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Change of use
Inspector: Merrett R

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the material change of use of the premises to a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) and flats has occurred as a matter of fact

What decided it

The tenant rooms were too cramped to provide cooking facilities and did not meet the Gravesham test of affording facilities for day-to-day private domestic existence, whereas the shared kitchen was suitable for shared use by all residents, making the use an HMO rather than a mixed HMO and flats use.

Judgments cited: Gravesham BC v SSE & O'Brien [1983]; Brent LBC v Secretary of State and Reiner [2020] EWHC 3620 (Admin)

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