Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council v Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities & Anor [2022] EWHC 3175 (Admin)
Welwyn Hatfield C4 HMO is a useful Planning Court judgment on whether a converted house containing a mixture of self-contained bedsits and shared accommodation can still operate as one C4 HMO dwellinghouse.
The answer depends on fact and degree. On the evidence in this case, the shared facilities serving all occupiers supported the Inspector’s conclusion that the property remained one C4 planning unit.
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- Neutral citation
- [2022] EWHC 3175 (Admin)
- Court
- High Court, King's Bench Division, Planning Court
- Judgment date
- 12th December 2022
- Judge
- Timothy Mould KC, sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge
- Case number
- CO/4195/2021
What Welwyn Hatfield decided
The enforcement notice alleged that a dwellinghouse had been subdivided into five self-contained flats.
The evidence instead showed four self-contained bedsit-style units together with two bedrooms and communal bathroom, kitchen, lounge and garden facilities available across the occupation.
The Inspector treated the building as a converted-building HMO within C4 and quashed the notice. The council challenged that decision.
Timothy Mould KC, sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge, dismissed the appeal.
Self-contained rooms do not automatically create separate flats
Section 55(3)(a) recognises that the use as separate dwellinghouses of parts of a building can amount to a material change of use. But whether a particular unit is a separate dwelling is a question of fact and degree.
The presence of cooking or washing facilities inside some rooms does not itself decide the planning unit.
Communal facilities can support one C4 planning unit
The Inspector was entitled to consider the communal spaces and facilities available to all occupiers, together with the way the building operated as a whole.
On the facts, the mix of private and shared accommodation did not compel the conclusion that the property had become a collection of separate flats.
The court therefore upheld the finding that the property could remain a C4 HMO dwellinghouse.
Planning Geek’s guide to planning units explains the wider fact-and-degree test.
A converted-building HMO can fall within C4
The Housing Act concept of a converted-building HMO does not by itself remove a property from C4. Planning classification still requires the Use Classes Order to be applied to the actual occupation.
That is particularly relevant when establishing the history of a property for a certificate or enforcement appeal. See Planning Geek’s guide to proving a lawful HMO.
A future enforcement notice was not ruled out
The decision did not permanently prevent Welwyn Hatfield from taking future enforcement action if the evidence or use changed. The council would not simply be bound for all time by every factual conclusion reached on the earlier appeal.
The important point was that the particular notice before the Inspector could not safely be corrected to describe a different breach without causing injustice.
Read the full Welwyn Hatfield judgment
The full Planning Court judgment is held in the Planning Geek case law library. Gold Members can open the protected PDF below.
Welwyn Hatfield C4 HMO Case Law Page Updated: 10th September 2026