We understand from an article in The Spectator that the secretary of state for housing has been seeking inspiration from Renaissance Italy to deliver the levelling-up agenda. We are a little concerned that Mr Gove might have misunderstood the nature of the task before him so we offer the following to set him on the right lines.
Monthly Archives: December 2021
Coming back for more
Case law on the abuse of process has been set out by an inspector in a recent remitted appeal concerning the use of a building in the back garden of a house in south-east London (DCS Number 200-010-524) .
Rewriting history
In determining an appeal concerning enforcement action directed at works to a residential property in north-west London an inspector has highlighted that you can’t rewrite history (DCS Number 400-033-667).
Due to a number of departures from the approved drawings the council contended that a 2017 permission had not been implemented and further that it was now time-expired. The inspector, however, had regard to the remarks of the judge in the case of Hussain v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government [2017]. He ruled that it is possible to commence a development for the purpose of section 56 of the 1990 Act and thereby meet a deadline forming a condition of the permission, and then later to deviate from the permitted works in a manner that later becomes an enforcement issue, without retrospectively altering the fact that the commencement of the development had occurred.
A shaggy dog story
In determining an appeal against an enforcement notice directed at the keeping and breeding of St Bernard dogs at a property in Norfolk (DCS Number 400-033-611) an inspector pointed out that there is no statutory limit on the number of dogs that can be kept at a dwelling before a material change of use takes place.