Garage at Sx 369 802, Greystone Bridge, Launceston, PL15 9PD

use as a single dwellinghouse

Authority: West Devon Borough Council
Appeal type: ldc · Lawful Development Certificate
Procedure: Inquiry
Development: residential · Householder developments
Inspector: Jarratt P

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the Council's decision to refuse to grant an LDC was well founded
Whether the appellant's evidence is precise and unambiguous enough to show that it is more likely than not that the change of use of the appeal property occurred four years or more before the application for the LDC was made

What decided it

The appellant's evidence on the date of first residential occupation was muddled, contradictory and unsupported, and was contradicted by documentary evidence (the sales brochure, Building Notice and property-naming application), so it failed to prove on the balance of probabilities that residential use began before the critical date of 25 February 2021.

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