Case Study
Residential Caravan Site in Cornwall

Permanent residential use confirmed at appeal

A Section 191(1)(c) application for a Certificate of Lawfulness for Existing Use or Development, (a CLEUD) to confirm that a condition had been breached for more than 10 years and was therefore unenforceable, was approved at appeal. It confirmed that the site had been providing permanent residential accommodation in breach of condition 2 of the original approval for over 10 years.

The condition stated ‘The fifteen motorised caravans, caravans or campervans hereby approved shall be used for holiday/leisure purposes only and shall not be used to provide any form of permanent residential accommodation’.

The Council’s case was that although the site had been used for temporary residential accommodation in breach of the first part of condition 2 restricting it to holiday/leisure purposes only, it had not been ‘permanent’ accommodation so was not in breach of the second part of the condition. The Inspector at the appeal disagreed and determined that the condition should be read as a whole and the condition had been breached for more than 10 years. Permanent residential use had become lawful though the passage of time.