®Planning appeal decision
Dismissed3 April 20253332881
16 Elgin Road, CROYDON, CR0 6XA
change of use from 2 x C4 Small HMOs to single Sui Generis HMO housing 7 people
- Authority
- London Borough of Croydon
- Appeal type
- ldc · Lawful Development Certificate
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- residential · Minor Dwellings
- Inspector
- Jones R
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether the Council's decision to refuse to issue a LDC was well-founded, turning on whether the use of the maisonettes as HMOs was lawful because it wasn't a material change from the previous lawful use, or whether the use materially changed to HMOs when such a change was permitted development or ten or more years before the date of the application when such a change was not permitted development and then continued without material interruption for a period of at least ten years thereafter
What decided it
The property was vacant from approximately August 2018 to February 2022, breaking any continuity of use required for the ten-year immunity period from enforcement action, and there was insufficient evidence that HMO use commenced on 1 January 2010 as claimed.
Judgments cited: Impey v SSE & Lake District SPB [1981] JPL 363; [1984] P&CR 157; Welwyn Hatfield BC v SSCLG & Beesley [2011] UKSC 15
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.