Cases - Blackpool Borough Council v Secretary of State for the Environment and Keenan

Record details

Name
Blackpool Borough Council v Secretary of State for the Environment and Keenan
Date
(1980)
Citation
40 P&CR 104
Keywords
Planning control
Summary

A solicitor bought a second home in Blackpool. It was empty for 8 months of the year, but was used in the months of July to October by the solicitor and his family, his friends, and also by 'family groups' who paid rent. The local planning authority served an enforcement notice alleging a material change of use to holiday lettings on a commercial basis. On appeal the inspector found that the house was occupied by family groups as single households, and so its use was not analogous to that of hotels or boarding houses, but was in accordance with the permitted use as a private dwellinghouse. The local authority challenged the decision, citing the Habib Ullah case, but the High Court found no error of law. The house was not constantly let on short holiday lettings, but was let to single households for 10 weeks in the year. The inspector was entitled to find, as a matter of fact and degree, that the character of the house and its use was not materially changed by the succession of occupiers over the 10-week period.