Where it was proposed to convert a building, consisting of seven flatlets, into a single family house, the resulting loss of residential accommodation was a planning consideration that could not be disregarded when deciding whether the change was a material change of use.
So held Mr Christopher Lockhart-Mummery QC in Richmond London Borough Council v Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions [2000] EGCS 47, allowing the council’s appeal against the inspector’s decision to grant a lawful development certificate. The inspector had erred in treating the loss as “more a question of planning merit than law”.
PP 2000/27
Where it was proposed to convert a building, consisting of seven flatlets, into a single family house, the resulting loss of residential accommodation was a planning consideration that could not be disregarded when deciding whether the change was a material change of use.
So held Mr Christopher Lockhart-Mummery QC in Richmond London Borough Council v Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions [2000] EGCS 47, allowing the council’s appeal against the inspector’s decision to grant a lawful development certificate. The inspector had erred in treating the loss as “more a question of planning merit than law”.
