Consent secured for Children’s Home in Croydon

Boyer acted on behalf of Ascent Foster Care, a leading children’s home provider who offer long term residential placements for vulnerable children across London. Ascent have a good track record of providing high quality care that meets borough’s social care needs; their services have been recognised through a number of awards and good Ofsted ratings.

Ascent instructed Boyer to negotiate with the Council to confirm that the proposed use of the property was lawful and did not require planning permission. Through the preparation of the case, Boyer undertook a detailed assessment of case law and other planning precedents to inform the strategy. From reviewing examples, this is a curious matter which requires a forensic assessment of the exact use and confirmation as to whether this falls into C3(b) use or C2. Nuanced differences exist between the two uses including the number of residents, the provision of care, the rotation of staff and the physical provisions within the building. In this instance, the proposed operation would house 5 children and non-residing adult carers living together at the property. These numbers and the operation were considered to be in line with that of a ‘traditional dwelling house’ and for all intents and purposes the occupiers of the property would be comparable to ‘traditional’ residential occupation. Boyer successfully demonstrated that the proposed operation fell within Use Class C3 and therefore no planning permission was required to operate the property in this way. This result has allowed Ascent to secure the site with the home quickly being brought into operation so they can enhance foster care provision to children in Croydon. Boyer looks forward to developing their relationship with Ascent and hopefully securing more positive results across London.