Resurrection of historic consent
The project
Our client phoned us from a walk on their Estate in Northumberland. He said he had found some foundations in “the middle of nowhere” and could we get planning permission for a holiday cottage there. We looked into the planning history and found that a house had once been located there, and following a fire in the 1980s, planning permission has been granted for a holiday cottage to be built in its place.
In the absence of evidence to prove “on the balance of probabilities” that the foundations were built lawfully within five years of the permission being granted, we could not apply for a Certificate of Lawfulness. Instead, we set out a pragmatic justification for the building on the basis that it was likely the works were lawfully undertaken. We proposed to build the same footprint as approved in the 1980s. The officer agreed that in all likelihood, the permission had been implemented, and granted consent under delegated powers for the new holiday cottage.
It is currently under construction, ready to welcome visitors from spring 2022!
