[2025] UKUT 00339 (LC)

The Land is a small rectangular plot approximately 30 metres long and 10 metres wide. It is in Fulbourn, a village about 4 miles southeast of Cambridge and is located just off Teversham Road, a minor road that links Fulbourn to the neighbouring village of Teversham. Access to the Land is by means of Brunswick Court, a small, private cul-de-sac.

To understand the context of this dispute it is necessary to examine how Mr and Mrs Baker became the owners of the Land. In 1989 when Mr Baker acquired the Land from his father it was part of a much larger site shaped akin to an inverted ‘L’ which contained a house and a range of outbuildings. In May 1999 Mr Baker sold part of the site to Hogger Homes, a local developer who subsequently built three houses now known as 1-3 Brunswick Court. The retained land contained the original house which was demolished and replaced by a new dwelling (now 3 Teversham Road) adjacent to the roadway serving the three new houses. Part of one of the outbuildings which was also on the retained land was remodelled to form the workshop for 3 Teversham Road. The three new properties and the retained land were and are subject to various covenants. In 2013 Mr Baker extended the workshop to accommodate his hobby of restoring vintage tractors and lorries.

Mr Baker lived in 3 Teversham Road from completion of construction until 2019 when he moved to Norfolk. It was his intention to sell the Land and pay off the mortgage on 3 Teversham Road. He anticipated that he would retain the ownership of the house and potentially move back to Fulbourn in later life. In the meantime, he would let it. However, following an increase in interest rates in the Autumn of 2022 this plan became untenable and in 2023 he was forced to sell the house. He was therefore left with the Land. The plan that follows below shows the extent of the original site, the Land and the positioning of the workshop, Brunswick Court and the house at 3 Teversham Road. It also shows the extent of a right of way (shaded) over part of Brunswick Court in favour of the Land. This extends to the point in Brunswick Court where the roadway takes a sharp right turn in front of 1 Brunswick Court.

In February 2023 Mr Baker obtained planning permission to build a three-bedroom bungalow on the Land. The site and floor plan below shows the internal arrangement and the positioning of the building, some 10 metres from the boundary with 1 Brunswick Court. The Land is separated from the house at 1 Brunswick Court by a double garage and a pathway such that the distance between the western elevation of the Bungalow and the eastern elevation of the house appears to be about 18 metres. According to Mr Baker the Bungalow would be 105m² in area, a little smaller than the Workshop which extends to 112m². It would be of conventional construction under a pitched tiled roof. The (western) elevation facing 1 Brunswick Court would contain a full height window/door approximately 3 metres wide serving the kitchen/dining area and a smaller three pane casement window in the end wall of the master bedroom. Space to park four modestly sized cars is envisaged at the eastern end of the site. The plan also shows the intended planting arrangements at the boundaries which were said by Mr Taylor to be part of the planning permission although no separate landscaping/planting plan was submitted as part of the planning application.

Teversham Road also contains a site currently under development by Hill Residential Limited, the entrance to which is directly opposite Brunswick Court. This scheme, known as Farehurst Park, contains 110 dwellings of various configurations together with landscaping, public open space and associated infrastructure.

In his witness statement Mr Baker said that he had spoken to a local builder about the timeframe for the building works in relation to the Bungalow and had been given a period of 6-8 months. At the hearing he confirmed that the timeframe did not include any time for demolition for the Workshop.