Appeal Decision 157 - Certificate of Lawful Development.

November 2010 - Code a00157

Summary of Case (appeal allowed): 

The property is a two-storey detached house within a conservation area. It appears that when the property was originally built, the main rear wall had a (relatively small) step, such that the eastern part of this original rear wall was 0.3m further rearward than the western part. The eastern part has subsequently been ended further rearward with a two-storey rear extension, whilst the western part has not been extended. 

The application was for a proposed single storey rear extension which would be attached to the western part of the original rear wall, with length no greater than 4m. As a result of this location, the proposed extension would also be attached to the side-facing part (length 0.3m) of the original step as well as the side wall of the existing two-storey rear extension. 

The key issue was whether the proposed extension would be contrary to Class A, part A.2(b), which states that “In the case of a dwellinghouse on article 1(5) land, development is not permitted by Class A if … the enlarged part of the dwellinghouse would extend beyond a wall forming a side elevation of the original dwellinghouse”. 

The Inspector stated the following: 

“In my application of the Order I have had regard to the document “Technical Guidance – Permitted development for householders” issued by the Department for Communities and Local Government in August 2010. This guidance indicates that “A wall forming a side elevation of a house will be any wall that cannot be identified as being a front wall or a rear wall”. 

I have noted the appeal decision [March 2010 - Code a00106] in respect of another LDC application, however, I have not placed much weight on the Inspector’s reasoning as the decision was made prior to the issue of the national Technical Guidance mentioned here. 

Although the dining room now extends beyond the present rear wall of the living room this does not appear to be the ‘original’ footprint of the property. The Council refer to a drawing forming part of planning permission s/74/888 which shows the nature of the property at that time in 1974. The Council say that that plan shows that the original rear wall was staggered, and the proposed conservatory would be located to the side of this original rear projection. 

I considered this configuration of the building at my site visit from both inside and outside the house. The original back wall of the dining room contained a side facing ‘slit’ window now used elsewhere on the property. The return in the wall was about 0.3m. As a matter of fact and degree, I find that the nature, location and projection of this wall does not make it constitute a “wall forming a side elevation of the original dwelling”, but forms part of the ‘rear wall’ in the context of the above Orders. The restriction under clause A.2 therefore does not apply to the proposed conservatory”. 

[Note: A significant number of previous appeal decisions, as well as the “DCLG - Permitted development for householders - Technical guidance” (August 2010) document, have concluded that the side wall of an original rear projection (i.e. the side wall facing the infill area) is “a side elevation of the original dwellinghouse” for the purposes of the GPDO. However, in my opinion, the conclusion for this current appeal decision does not necessarily contradict these other previous appeal decisions because in this current case the original rear projection is particularly shallow (0.3m). For all of the other appeal decisions, the original rear projection has been significantly longer. Indeed, it appears that among all of these other previous appeal decisions, the shortest original rear projection was the one for “February 2010 - Code a00102”, which had length 1.21m]. 

[Note: In my opinion, it could be argued that this appeal decision contradicts the advice in the “DCLG - Permitted development for householders - Technical guidance” (August 2010). The example at the bottom of page 26 and the explanatory text at the top of page 27 of the “Technical Guidance” document indicate that the phrase “the enlarged part of the dwellinghouse” not only applies to the proposed extension, but also includes any previous extension to which the proposed extension would be attached. For the above application, this would imply that “the enlarged part of the dwellinghouse” would consist of the proposed single storey rear extension plus the existing two-storey rear extension, which as a combined structure would be within 2m of a boundary and would have eaves at height greater than 3m, contrary to Class A, part A.1(g)]. 

Main Conclusions: 

·       In the case where the original rear projection is particularly shallow (e.g. a small step in the original rear wall), the side-facing part of this step is not “a side elevation of the original dwellinghouse” for the purposes of the GPDO.
[Relevant to: “A side elevation of the original dwellinghouse”, A.1(h), A.2(b), E.3].

·       This appeal decision states, or implies, that the phrase “the enlarged part of the dwellinghouse” only applies to the proposed extension, and does not includes any previous extension (i.e. non-original part of the application site) to which the proposed extension would be attached.
[Note: This would appear to contradict at least one other appeal decision – for further information see the entry in the “Reference Section” on “The enlarged part of the dwellinghouse”].
[Relevant to: “The enlarged part of the dwellinghouse”, A.1(b), A.1(c), A.1(d), A.1(e), A.1(f), A.1(g), A.1(h), A.2(b), A.2(c), B.3].

Links to the “Appeal Decision Notice” and other associated documents (e.g. drawings, etc): 

·       Appeal Decision Notice:
http://planningjungle.com/?s2member_file_download=a00157-Appeal-Decision-Notice.pdf&s2member_skip_confirmation&s2member_file_inline=yes 

·       Drawings:
http://planningjungle.com/?s2member_file_download=a00157-Drawings.pdf&s2member_skip_confirmation&s2member_file_inline=yes 

Download documents and diagrams of useful

Permitted Development information