First Secretary of State v Arun District Council and Another: CA 10 Aug 2006

The land-owner had received planning permission to construct an extension to her home subject to a condition that it could be occupied only by a dependant relative. In 1996, she let it to students in breach of the condition. In 1996, te council took enforcement proceedings. She answered that the time limit for enforcement was four years. The council said it was, as a change of use, ten years.
Held: The period was four years. Section 171B(2) specifically applied to this situation.
Sedley :J: ‘The legislation is unambiguous in first defining a failure to comply with any condition attached to a planning consent as a breach of planning control (s. 171A(1)(b)) and in then providing (s.171B(2)) that where such a breach consists in change of use to a single dwelling house, which was the case here, any enforcement action has to be taken within four years. ‘

Judges:

Auld LJ, Sedley LJ, Carnwath LJ

Citations:

Times 21-Sep-2006, [2006] EWCA Civ 1172, [2007] 1 WLR 523

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Town and Country Planning Act 1990 171B(2)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

CitedLondon Borough of Camden v Backer and Aird CA 1982
The land-owner came to use the second storey of a house as a single dwelling-house where the planning permission for that second storey was conditional on its use only as storage ancillary to residential use of the remainder of the premises. The . .
CitedPeacock Homes Ltd v Secretary of State CA 1984
. .
CitedKing’s Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council v Secretary of State for the Environment 1995
David Keene QC said: ‘I note that whereas s171B(1) is confined to cases where the breach consists of the carrying out of operations without planning permission, that is to say one form of development, s. 171B(2) seems to apply to any breach of . .

Cited by:

CitedSecretary of State for Communities and Local Government and Another v Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council SC 6-Apr-2011
The land-owner had planning permission to erect a barn, conditional on its use for agricultural purposes. He built inside it a house and lived there from 2002. In 2006. He then applied for a certificate of lawful use. The inspector allowed it, and . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Planning

Updated: 07 July 2022; Ref: scu.244209