by Ian Walmsley | Sep 10, 2026
Titchfield lawful use reversion is an important Court of Appeal judgment on what lawful use remains available when an unauthorised material change of use is enforced against. The court held that section 57(4) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 requires a counterfactual exercise: assume the development being enforced against had not occurred, then ask what use of the land would have been lawful. The creation of a new planning unit did not, by itself, extinguish earlier lawful use rights.
by Ian Walmsley | Sep 10, 2026
West Suffolk Use Class E is a leading Planning Court judgment on two parts of Class E: medical or health services provided principally to visiting members of the public, and research and development of products or processes. Mrs Justice Lang dismissed West Suffolk Council’s statutory review. Specialist services did not fall outside Class E(e) merely because visitors required a referral, and the Inspector was entitled to treat the Animal Health Trust’s research activities as Class E(g)(ii).
by Ian Walmsley | Sep 10, 2026
Gurvits home office enforcement is a useful High Court authority on when a business use in domestic outbuildings becomes a separate planning use, and on how an enforcement notice interacts with existing lawful or permitted rights. The court dismissed the owners’ section 289 appeal. The Inspector had been entitled to find that three former domestic outbuildings had become a single, more intensive commercial office and storage planning unit, and that removing the office facilities and reconnecting the buildings to lawful domestic use did not unlawfully extinguish future permitted rights.
by Ian Walmsley | Sep 10, 2026
Turner enforcement notice service is an important Planning Court judgment on serving an enforcement notice where a large planning unit is occupied by numerous changing businesses. The court held that conspicuously fixing the notice to entrance gates across the only means of access could amount to valid service on occupiers under section 329(2) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. The council did not have to attach a separate copy inside every individual compound.
by Ian Walmsley | Sep 10, 2026
Empire serviced apartments is an important Planning Court case on the planning use of flats operated as short-term serviced accommodation. The court upheld an Inspector’s conclusion that the relevant use was a sui generis serviced-apartment use rather than ordinary C3 dwellinghouses. It also confirms that London’s 90-night short-letting rule does not itself decide the planning-use classification.
