Cases - North Devon District Council v First Secretary of State
Record details
- Name
- North Devon District Council v First Secretary of State
- Date
- [2003]
- Citation
- EWHC 157 (Admin)
- Legislation
- Keywords
- Planning control
- Summary
-
A company leased a house to be used for the residential care of 2 children. The children were cared for on a rota basis by non-residential staff. The company sought a lawful use certificate on the basis that the new use fell within class C3(b). Mr Justice Collins held that the children could not form a household, as they were not capable of looking after themselves. He disagreed with the view in R v Bromley that a single household can include the non-residential staff. He stated that living together as a household requires that a proper functioning household exists, and so the children and carers must reside in the premises. Therefore the house was within class C2. It was a question of fact and degree whether the change from C3 to C2 was material.