‘4-Year Rule’ Lawful Development Certificate secured for a House in Colchester

We recently secured a planning consent for a Lawful Development Certificate that sought to regularise the use of an outbuilding as an independent dwelling in the rural area of Colchester, Essex.

The building in question formed a large outbuilding within the residential curtilage of an existing property in a countryside location. The landowners had originally converted this outbuilding as a residential annex, but when it was no longer required for that purpose, they decided to rent the building out. They did not know this at the time, but they had inadvertently created an independent dwelling.

The 4 Year Rule

In this case the outbuilding has been rented out as an independent dwelling continuously for a period well in excess of four years. Section 171B (2) of the Town and Country Planning 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”. This effectively means that in such circumstances, these buildings can be lawfully considered to be a dwelling for planning purposes.

Where an independent dwelling is being claimed, the planning guidance states that the burden of proof is on the applicant, and the Courts have held that the relevant test of the evidence on such matters is "the balance of probability". In this particular case we compiled robust and comprehensive evidence in the form of a ‘Statement of Truth’ from the landowners, tenancy agreements, correspondence with the tenants and utility bills.

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