Flats 1-6, 99 Yeats Close, LONDON, NW10 0BW

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

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

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the matters alleged in the enforcement notice (material change of use to HMO and flats) have occurred

What decided it

The Inspector's finding on the balance of probabilities that the premises comprised an HMO and not an 'HMO and flats', based on the modest size of rooms, availability of communal kitchens, and evidence of actual use patterns showing occupants cooked in communal facilities rather than individual rooms.

Judgments cited: Richmond upon Thames LBC v SSETR & Richmond upon Thames Churches Housing Trust [2001] JPL 84; Lipson v SoSE (1977) 33 P&CR 95; Westminster CC v SSCLG [2015] EWCA Civ 482; Gravesham BC v SoSE and Another QBD 8 November 1982 (1984) 47 P. & C.R. 142; Scurlock v SSE [1977] 33 P&CR 102; Impey v SSE & Lake District SPB [1981] JPL 363; [1984] P&CR 157; Rogers v LB Islington CA 1999 WL 478098; Birmingham Corporation v. Habib Ullah [1964] 1 Q.B. 178; R (oao Gore) v SSCLG & Dartmoor NPA [2008] EWHC 3278 (Admin); [2009] JPL 931; Miller Mead v MHLG [1963] 2 WLR 225; Hammersmith and Fulham LBC v SSE & Sandral [1975] 30 P&CR 19; Brent London Borough Council and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities & Local Government (2) Chaim Reiner [2020] EWHC 3620 (Admin)

Read the decision letter on the Inspectorate’s site

The main issues and the deciding factor are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.

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