®Planning appeal decision
Land at 182 Headley Way, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX3 7TA
Planning appeal 3271351 at Land at 182 Headley Way, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX3 7TA (Oxford City Council) was allowed in part (a split decision) on 26 July 2021 by Inspector Jarratt P, by written representations. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: Whether there has been a breach of planning control (ground c).
the change of use of the property on the land from use as a dwelling house in Use Class C3 of the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order (as amended) to use as a house in multiple occupation (within Use Class C4 or as a sui generis use)
- Authority
- Oxford City Council
- Appeal type
- enforcement · Enforcement Notice
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- residential · Change of use
- Inspector
- Jarratt P
- Postcode
- OX3 7TA
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether there has been a breach of planning control (ground c)
- Whether it is too late to take enforcement action (ground d)
- Whether planning permission should be granted for change of use to C4 HMO (ground a)
- The appropriate compliance period for the enforcement notice (ground g)
What decided it
The C4 HMO use, when limited to six residents, does not create sufficient harm to breach Policy H6's 20% HMO concentration threshold and therefore planning permission can be granted on ground (a), while the sui generis large HMO use remains unauthorised.
The benefits of regularising the C4 HMO use and the character of the area not being overwhelmed by HMOs outweighed the policy concern about HMO concentration, resulting in permission for C4 use limited to six residents.
What the Inspector cited
- Development plan policies
- Policy H6 of the Oxford Local Plan
How the Inspector dealt with each one is set out in the app, in order: the development plan, national policy, housing land supply, other considerations and the planning balance, beside the letter.
See how each was appliedThe decision letter
Town Planner Pro holds this letter. The Appeals plan opens it and every other letter we hold, all of them searchable, with the main issues and what decided each case picked out. We do not show letters on the free site because they carry people’s names and addresses.
With an account
What an account adds to this decision
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The main issues, what decided it, the planning balance and the policies and judgments listed as cited are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro and are our summary, not the Inspector’s words; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.