Flats 1-7, 291-293 High Road, ILFORD, IG1 1NR

described as “Retain 7No self contained flats above a retail business which have been in use since 2010”

Authority: London Borough of Redbridge
Appeal type: ldc · Lawful Development Certificate
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Householder developments
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 relevant parts of the building as seven, self-contained flats began more than four years before the date of the LDC application and continued without material interruption for a period of four years thereafter

What decided it

The evidence, particularly the statutory declarations and rental payment records covering the four years prior to the application date, demonstrated on the balance of probabilities that the seven flats had been in continuous use without material interruption, allowing the use to become lawful through the passage of time.

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