The case is about the ability of planning authorities to use conditions to prevent changes of use permitted by the Use Classes Order / General Permitted Development Order and whether planning conditions attached to the grant are necessary for this purpose.

The judgment follows the Council’s successful legal challenge to an inspector’s decision on a s174 appeal to grant planning permission for a change of use of a dwelling into four units without imposing requested planning conditions to oust the UCO / GPDO. The first instance judgment from Knowles J was reported in an earlier news item which you can read here.
 
The SSHCLG argued on appeal that the planning permission granted by the inspector, properly interpreted, was for a mixed use across the entirety of the building rather than for the building to be used for four separate units in separate uses. The Court was invited to take extrinsic material into account to interpret the planning permission in this way, in particular the Council’s statement of case which referred to a “mixed use” across the building. The submission was that if the permission is interpreted in this way the inspector was correct to reject the conditions as unnecessary as land in a mixed use cannot benefit from the UCO.
 
Lord Justice Lewison rejected this argument, holding that the permission that was granted was unambiguous and it permitted the building to be used for four separate planning units. Thus the Inspector was wrong and acted unlawfully in rejecting the proposed conditions.
 
The judgment can be accessed here.
 
Horatio Waller appeared for Manchester City Council.