40A Vinters Avenue, Stevenage, SG1 1QU

Planning appeal 3354037 at 40A Vinters Avenue, Stevenage, SG1 1QU (Stevenage Borough Council) was allowed on 7 March 2025 by Inspector Walker A, following an inquiry. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: Whether at the time the notice was issued and the LDC application was made it was too late for the Council to take enforcement action, turning on whether the relevant period of immunity is 4 or 10 years.

Use of the existing property as 4no. self-contained studio flats (and alleged change of use of the land to use as four self-contained flats)

Authority: Stevenage Borough Council
Appeal type: ldc · Lawful Development Certificate
Procedure: Inquiry
Development: residential · Other minor developments
Inspector: Walker A
Postcode: SG1 1QU

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether at the time the notice was issued and the LDC application was made it was too late for the Council to take enforcement action, turning on whether the relevant period of immunity is 4 or 10 years
Whether the building was brought into use as a single dwelling before it was first occupied as four self-contained flats

What decided it

The building was found to have been lawfully brought into use as a single dwelling upon completion in February 2017, meaning the later change of use to four flats attracted only a four-year immunity period which had already expired by the time enforcement action was taken.

What the Inspector cited

Judgments: SSCLG v Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council [2011] UKSC 15; Impey v SSE & Lake District SPB [1981] JPL 363; [1984] P&CR 157

How the Inspector dealt with each one is set out in the app, in order: the development plan, national policy, housing land supply, other considerations and the planning balance, beside the letter.

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The decision letter

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The main issues, what decided it, the planning balance and the policies and judgments listed as cited are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro and are our summary, not the Inspector’s words; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.