Certificate of Lawfulness secured
Boyer’s London office has recently obtained a Certificate of Lawfulness for the erection of a rear outbuilding within the curtilage of an existing residential dwelling in the London Borough of Barnet.
The proposed outbuilding totals 222.8 sq.m, the footprint of which would be larger than the existing dwellinghouse. However, in terms of floorspace, the proposed outbuilding would be 53.3% of the existing dwellinghouse. The proposed outbuilding comprises a play room, laundry room, swimming pool, gym, changing room, pool equipment storage area and garden maintenance storage area.
A Certificate of Lawfulness was submitted to the London of Borough of Barnet, with a fleet of evidence demonstrating that the proposed outbuilding was permitted development under Class E, of Part 1, Schedule 2 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 2015 (GPDO). However, following a period of discussion, the Council considered that the scale of the uses proposed in the outbuilding would be in excess of what could be considered reasonably incidental to the existing residential dwellinghouse and refused the certificate.
Following the refusal, Boyer was instructed to submit an appeal, which was allowed in March 2020. As part of the appeal submission, Boyer included detailed findings from an extensive review of relevant case law. Within the appeal decision, the Inspector agreed with Boyer’s view that as a matter of fact and degree, the proposed outbuilding would be reasonably required for the purposes incidental to the enjoyment of the main dwellinghouse.
We are delighted to have secured a certificate of lawfulness and look forward to working on a number of other projects throughout the London Borough of Barnet.