[2025] EWHC 1967 (Admin)

With permission of Tim Smith KC, sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge, the Claimant/Applicant (hereinafter the Claimant) appeals and seeks a statutory review, under sections 288 and 289 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, of an appeal decision dated 5 May 2023 of a planning inspector appointed by the First Defendant/Respondent, the Secretary of State. The nature of the appeal decision requires challenges to be brought under both sections. It related to an enforcement notice (the notice) which the Second Defendant/Respondent, as local planning authority (the authority) served as long ago as 9 September 2014, because it appeared that there had been a breach of planning control, under section 1711A(1)(a), at 72 Bath Road, Hounslow, a semi-detached dwelling, owned by the Claimant. The appeal succeeded in part, and planning permission was granted for the erection of a single-storey rear extension, subject to condition. That condition provided that notwithstanding the provisions of Class E, Part 1, Schedule 2 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development)(England) Order 2015 (the GPDO), no building or enclosure, swimming or other pool shall be provided, erected or installed within the curtilage of the dwellinghouse without the prior written notice of the authority. The Claimant is particularly aggrieved at the imposition of that condition, as it prevents, amongst other things, the erection an outbuilding “required for a purpose incidental to the enjoyment of the dwellinghouse” which would otherwise be permitted development.

The breaches alleged in the notice were the construction of a self-contained residential outbuilding, the erection of a single storey rear extension, the erection of a link extension between the two, and the use of the main dwelling as three self-contained residential units. The notice set out what was required, which included the demolition of the constructions and the cessation of use of the main dwelling as three residential units.