4 King Georges Avenue, SOUTHAMPTON, SO15 4JE

Existing use as an HMO of 8 units of unrelated individuals

Authority: Southampton City Council
Appeal type: ldc · Lawful Development Certificate
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Hocking P

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the Council's refusal to grant a certificate of lawfulness for the existing use of the property as an 8-bedroom House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) was well founded

What decided it

The appellant's evidence was not sufficiently precise and unambiguous to demonstrate on the balance of probabilities that the property had been continuously occupied as an 8-bedroom HMO for a relevant 10-year period, thus failing to discharge the burden of proof required for a certificate of lawfulness.

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