Borough of Poole: Pure Town Planning are pleased to announce that we have recently secured a Certificate of Lawfulness confirming that the existing use of an outbuilding as a self-contained dwellinghouse on Bournemouth Road, Poole is lawful.
Lawfulness was claimed on grounds that no enforcement action may be taken in respect of the use because the time for enforcement action had expired. Section 171B (2) of the 1990 Act states: “Where there has been a breach of planning control consisting in the change of use of any building to use as a single dwellinghouse, no enforcement action may be taken after the end of the period of four years beginning with the date of the breach.”
As part of the lawful development application we submitted a comprehensive planning statement, which included a plethora of evidence such as utility bills, tenancy agreements and statutory declarations to demonstrate beyond all reasonable doubt that the use of the building as a single dwellinghouse had occurred for over four years.
Upon consideration of the application, the Borough of Poole Planning Officer concluded “On the balance of probability it is reasonable to conclude that the building has been used for the purposes of a self-contained residential unit for a period of 4 years or more. This use is therefore lawful and a CLEUD (Certificate of lawfulness for an existing use or development) should be issued.”
Lawful Development Certificates are a very useful planning tool which can confirm the lawfulness of proposed and existing uses and developments. They are particular useful to have if you ever decide to sell on the property and/or business to show that your building work and/or change of use is lawful.
So if you’re looking to regularise an existing use/development or would like to confirm your proposed works are lawful why not give Pure Town Planning a call for a free 30-minute consultation to see how we can help.