In this case, our client had been granted planning permission to convert a house in Ealing into two flats.
The council had imposed a condition to say that the new flats could not be used as houses in multiple occupation (HMOs).
A smaller HMO, in use class C4, is shared living accommodation for between 3 and 6 people living in separate households.
Class L of Schedule 2 Part 3 Class L of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 2015, as amended allows flats and houses to be converted into C4 HMOs.
The council was seeking to remove this permitted development right, not through an Article 4 direction, which is the normal way to do it, but by a condition on the applicant’s planning permission.
As we were concerned, this was simply unfair. Conditions should only be used where they meet the 6 tests set out in the National Planning Policy Framework. They must be reasonable. It is not reasonable to remove permitted development rights without any particular reason for it, apart from the council having a general dislike of HMOs.
We were delighted when the application was approved and the condition was removed from the consent.
We help a lot of clients every year remove planning conditions that restrict permitted development rights. If you need our help, please do not hesitate to get in touch!
