Cases - Gravesham Borough Council v Secretary of State for the Environment and O'Brien (Michael W)

Record details

Name
Gravesham Borough Council v Secretary of State for the Environment and O'Brien (Michael W)
Date
(1984)
Citation
47 P&CR 142
Legislation
Keywords
Planning control
Summary

Planning permission was granted for the erection of a small, single-storey holiday chalet. It measured 20 feet by 17 feet and comprised a bedroom with kitchen and a living room. There was no bathroom or toilet. Planning conditions prohibited use for human habitation between 1 November and 28 February, but allowed furniture and household effects to be stored there during those months.

The owner added an extension claiming that, as the building was a dwellinghouse, it was permitted development under the GDO 1977. In an enforcement appeal the Secretary of State determined that it was a dwellinghouse and that decision was upheld in the High Court. Mr Justice McCullough stated that the issue is one of fact. A distinctive characteristic of a dwellinghouse was its ability to afford to those who used it the facilities required for day-to-day private domestic existence. He noted that the use to which a building is put may be relevant but is not conclusive. For example, a wooden shed consisting of an office, w.c. and washbasin could hardly be turned into a dwellinghouse because someone put furniture in it and lived there. He observed that the fact that a second home is not lived in all year does not prevent it from being a dwellinghouse. If it was a dwellinghouse for 8 months it did not cease to be a dwellinghouse in the other 4.