Wrotham Hill Cottage, Wrotham Hill, Dunsfold, Surrey, GU8 4PA

Use of roof space of the garage building for the purposes of habitable accommodation – contrary to condition 2 of consent WA/2003/2383

Authority: Waverley Borough Council
Appeal type: ldc · Lawful Development Certificate
Procedure: Hearing
Development: residential · Minor general industry/storage/warehousing
Inspector: Curnow R

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

The main issue in both appeals is whether the Council's decisions to refuse to issue certificates of lawfulness were well-founded.

What decided it

In Appeal A the container's size, degree of permanence and weight-based attachment to the land led to a finding that it constituted a 'building' and operational development; in Appeal B, post-Hearing additional evidence proved on the balance of probability that the ancillary residential use of the roof space had continued for the requisite ten years.

Judgments cited: Cardiff Rating Authority v Guest Keen Baldwin's Iron and Steel Co Ltd [1949] 1QB 385; Skerritts of Nottingham Ltd v SSETR (No. 2) [2002] EWCA Civ 5569; Barvis Limited SSE and Anor [171] P&CR 1710; Cheshire CC v Woodward [1962] 2 QB 126; Gabbitas v SSE & Newham LBC [1985] JPL 630

Read the decision letter on the Inspectorate’s site

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