Site Address: 238 Headington Road, Oxford OX3 7PR,

Proposal: Change of use from guesthouse (Use Class C1) to a large House in Multiple Occupation (Sui Generis) (Amended Site Location and Amended Plans)

Recommendation: East Area Planning Committee is recommended to:

(a)     Approve the application for the reasons given in the report and subject to the required planning conditions set out in section 12 of this report and grant planning permission.

(b)     Agree to delegate authority to the Acting Head of Planning Services to:

Finalise the recommended conditions as set out in this report including such refinements, amendments, additions and/or deletions as the Acting Head of Planning Services considers reasonably necessary;

The Committee considered an application for the change of use from guesthouse (Use Class C1) to a large House in Multiple Occupation (Sui Generis) (Amended Site Location and Amended Plans) at 238 Headington Road, Oxford, OX3 7PR.

The Planning Officer reported amendments to the report:

• amend Para 2.3 2^nd sentence to read: The applicant has demonstrated that the property has been realistically marketed and offers for the property as a guesthouse were not forthcoming.

•           Para 8.1: replace National Planning Policy Framework numbers with

Design           12        7

Housing         5          6

Transport       9          4         

• to clarify the position on lawful use, replace the text of para 10.2 with:

The starting point for the determination of the application is what the lawful use of the site is.  There is some ambiguity as to what this is and a certificate of lawfulness has not been submitted to establish the lawful use.  However Officers have investigated to the best of their ability and it is apparent that 238 Headington Road, when occupied by the previous owner, operated as a Guest House for approximately 20 years. It is unclear when or if this use ceased. The information submitted with the current application is limited but the Council has anecdotal evidence that since 2014, the property has been in use as a single dwellinghouse. However in the absence of any evidence it cannot be determined how, when or if the guest house use ceased and how, when or if it was accommodated as a C3 dwelling.  The property was purchased by the present owner in April this year and the building is currently vacant. Planning permission was never sought for the use of the property as a Guest House.  However officers consider that the use of the site as a Guest House became lawful because of the amount of time it operated as a Guest House and it is likely it would have been immune from any enforcement action after 10 years.  It is clear from the evidence available to the Council that the property was in use as a guesthouse for the period of time stated above.  If and when the property was occupied again in 2014 as a single dwellinghouse, this change of use would have required planning permission which was not sought or granted. The property would need to be occupied as a single dwellinghouse for a period of at least four years for the use to be lawful and immune from enforcement action. At the present time and in the absence of any evidence to certify the C3 use, Officers are satisfied that the lawful use of the site is a Guest House (Use Class C1) and have therefore assessed the application on this basis.  Even if a contrary view is taken, given that the building has not been occupied since April of this year, it could be argued to have a nil use.  Officers do not consider the building to be in C3 use.   

• amend para 10.5 5^th sentence to read: … the existing use of 238 Headington Road is considered to be a Guest House (Use Class C1) or a nil use and as the policy only restricts the use of C3 dwellinghouses, it is considered that it would not be reasonable to refuse the application due to the density of HMOs in the area.

Paul Southouse, agent for the applicant, spoke in support of the application.

The Committee discussed the previous uses of the property and noted that neither use as a guesthouse nor nearly 4 years of use as a dwelling could be demonstrated as lawful as neither had been regularised. Members of the Committee had concerns about the lack of onsite parking and the cumulative impact of the very high density of HMOs in the immediate area but did not consider this justified refusal; and noted that good high quality HMOs in sustainable locations were an asset to the city.

On being proposed, seconded and put to the vote, the Committee agreed with the officer’s recommendation.

East Area Planning Committee resolved to:

1.         approve application 18/02320/FUL for the reasons given in the report and subject to the required 3 planning conditions set out in section 12 of the report and grant planning permission; and

2.         delegate authority to the Acting Head of Planning Services to finalise the recommended conditions as set out in the report including such refinements, amendments, additions and/or deletions as the Acting Head of Planning Services considers reasonably necessary.