®Planning appeal decision
Allowed21 November 20243315876
680 Forest Road, Walthamstow, LONDON, E17 3ED
described as “Use of the ground and first floor of the property as a house in multiple occupation for 5 persons and the use of the second floor of the property as a studio flat”
- Authority
- Waltham Forest London Borough Council
- Appeal type
- ldc · Lawful Development Certificate
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- residential · Change of use
- Inspector
- Fleming D
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether the Council's decision was well-founded, turning on: (i) whether the appellant can demonstrate on the balance of probabilities that the change of use to a C4 HMO occurred before the Article 4 Direction came into effect on 16 September 2014; and (ii) whether the appellant can show that the C4 HMO use continued and was not abandoned or lost until the date of the application
What decided it
The appellant's handwritten rent records, corroborated by tenancy agreements and former tenants' affidavits, established on the balance of probabilities that the C4 HMO use had existed since at least February 2007 and continued uninterrupted until the application date, making it immune from enforcement action.
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.