Cases - Hughes v Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions

Record details

Name
Hughes v Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions
Date
[2000]
Citation
1 PLR 76
Legislation
Keywords
Planning control
Summary

The Court of Appeal accepted that the following criteria are relevant to the determination of whether the use of a building has been abandoned:

  • the physical condition of the building;
  • the length of time for which the building had not been used for the relevant use;
  • whether it had been used for any other purposes (such as intervening uses); and
  • the owner's intentions.

A bungalow had been unoccupied since 1963 and had fallen into decay. In 1990 Mr Hughes bought the building with a view to constructing a replacement dwelling. It was claimed on behalf of Hughes that the previous owner had not formed the intention to abandon the use. On the contrary he had contemplated letting it and had also attempted to get planning permission for a residential use. Nevertheless, the Court of Appeal held that the inspector had been entitled to conclude that residential use had been abandoned.

Lord Justice Kennedy said:

'... the intentions of the site's successive owners, although relevant, were not and could not be decisive, because, at the end of the day, the test must be the view to be taken by a reasonable man with knowledge of all the relevant circumstance.'