BCP Council (Bournemouth area): Jess Glover is delighted to inform that she has recently secured a certificate to establish the lawful use of a former language school as a 6 bedroom HMO in Charminster, Bournemouth.
Lawful Development applications take time to prepare to ensure that on the balance of probability the evidence submitted will make clear to the Council that the unlawful use has continuously operated for the minimum amount of time required to become lawful under the relevant statutory legislation.
For this particular application, which was an unlawful change of use, it was required for us to demonstrate that the use had continued for a period in excess of 4 years. This required us to provide evidence including:
- Statutory declaration from the property owner
- Tenancy agreements from 2015-2019
- Bank account statements from the landlord
- Signed statement from relevant witnesses
Furthermore, the publically available enforcement records were checked to ensure that at no time in the last 4 years that the Council had served an enforcement notice asking for the unlawful use to cease.
With the application submitted, Pure Town Planning closely liaised with the Enforcement Officer throughout the application, including a site visit to validate the evidence submitted does relate to the existing situation within the property.
The Case Officer concluded that on the balance of probability and on the basis of the evidence provided as part of the application that the use of the application site has been in continuous use for the purposes specified for a period in excess of 4 years and issued a Lawful Development Certificate confirming that the existing use is now a C4 HMO.
The client was pleased and stated that ‘I’m delighted with a positive response granted by the council on first application’. So, if you are looking to purchase a property which is currently in an unlawful use or you have an unauthorised use or building which you are considering to regularise why don’t you give Pure Town Planning a call on 01202 585524 for a free confidential discussion on how we can assist you.