Two children’s home appeals decided on 19th October 2026 reached opposite results, but the legal questions were not the same. In Liverpool, Inspector C Harding allowed planning permission for a Class C2 residential home for one child at 2 Abdale Road, Norris Green. In Blackburn, Inspector Mark Caine dismissed a proposed lawful development certificate appeal for accommodation for two looked-after children at 6 Ottershaw Gardens.
The Liverpool decision considered whether the proposed C2 use would provide a safe and secure living environment, including how the operator would manage safeguarding risks. The Blackburn appeal concerned whether the proposed use would involve a material change from an existing lawful C3 dwelling, so that planning permission would be required.
I would not read this as one Inspector endorsing children’s home accommodation and another rejecting it. These decisions demonstrate the difference between the planning merits of a particular use and the evidential test for a certificate stating that use would be lawful.
Liverpool children’s home allowed with safeguards
Appeal 6008379 followed Liverpool City Council’s refusal of permission to continue using a semi-detached house as a residential care home for one child aged between seven and seventeen. The Inspector accepted the amended development description based on one child, rather than an earlier application description mentioning two.
The proposed home would be staffed around the clock by two support workers. There would also be a manager during weekday working hours. The Inspector imposed conditions limiting the home to one child, controlling staff numbers and changeover arrangements, and tying operation to approved safeguarding documents.
The council was concerned that crime and antisocial behaviour in the locality created unacceptable risk for a vulnerable child. Merseyside Police had supplied crime statistics and raised concerns about incidents associated with the particular property.
The Inspector acknowledged substantial recorded demand for police services, including incidents connected with the site. However, some wider crime figures lacked context about the size of the reporting area or appropriate comparisons. That limited the evidence that the neighbourhood was unusually dangerous relative to comparable places.
A children’s home must provide a safe environment, but a large number of police reports does not, in isolation, establish that suitable safeguards cannot be provided. The appellant’s location risk assessment and operational evidence were therefore important, rather than reliance on a general assertion that the area was safe.
The Inspector found the intended arrangements compatible with national policy supporting accommodation for different groups and appropriate specialist housing. Permission was granted for the specific one-child operation described, not for an unrestricted C2 institution.
Blackburn certificate failed on the C3 to C2 test
The other children’s home case, appeal 3373857, arose from Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council’s refusal of a certificate of lawful proposed use. The proposal was to accommodate up to two looked-after children in a three-bedroom house, with up to four care staff on a rota and staff present at all times.
The parties accepted that the proposed use fell within Class C2 and that the existing lawful use was Class C3. But different use-class labels do not by themselves answer every material change of use question. The issue was whether the character of the proposed activity would differ materially from the existing lawful residential use.
The applicant compared the arrangement with a normal family household that might have working adults, visitors and frequent vehicle movements. The Inspector found this comparison insufficiently grounded in evidence about how the property might reasonably be occupied, as opposed to a hypothetical high-activity household.
He also identified gaps in information about children’s care needs, professional visitors and the practical operation of staff changeovers. The regular employment-based staffing arrangements were not necessarily equivalent to the ordinary comings and goings of a domestic household.
Because the appellant had not established on the balance of probabilities that the proposed children’s home use would be lawful without planning permission, the Inspector upheld the council’s refusal of the certificate. This was not a merits-based refusal of an application for C2 planning permission.
Why the two appeal routes matter
Section 78 appeals about refusals of permission permit assessment of planning impacts and benefits, including safety, amenity, housing need and conditions. A proposed lawful development certificate under section 192 asks whether the described development would be lawful if undertaken. It is not an alternative way of winning permission on the merits.
The Liverpool children’s home operator needed to satisfy the Inspector that the use could be acceptable in planning terms. The Blackburn appellant needed to prove something different: that the proposed character of the use would not amount to material development needing consent.
For an existing C3 home being considered for children’s residential care, it is therefore essential to decide what application is being pursued. A lawful development certificate may be appropriate where the evidence supports no material change, but it cannot resolve planning-merits concerns simply by describing the activity as family-like.
Conversely, a refusal of a proposed-use certificate does not necessarily mean a properly evidenced planning application should fail. It may establish only that the applicant has not proved the proposed use falls outside planning control.
Evidence and conditions provide the practical lesson
Both decisions were fact-sensitive. In Liverpool, a location risk assessment, a statement of purpose, staff controls and evidence about the site’s circumstances helped secure conditional permission. Any material changes to the approved safeguarding documents must be agreed with the council before implementation.
In Blackburn, the absence of sufficiently detailed operational evidence undermined the claim that the use would be materially similar to C3. The proposed number of residents was small, but small scale alone could not establish immateriality.
The strongest children’s home applications identify who lives and works at the premises, how care and supervision operate, expected visitors, shift handovers, transport movements and the relationship with surrounding housing. The same information may serve different purposes according to the legal test. Earlier Planning Geek coverage includes the Enfield children’s home appeal and the Shipley lawful-use decision.
These are Inspector decisions, not binding legal precedents. Read the official Liverpool decision record and Blackburn appeal record. The Liverpool decision is also available on AppealBase, together with the Blackburn decision.
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