2 December 2024
SHW’s Planning Team secure certificate of lawfulness from Croydon Council
Business Space, Commercial, Industrial & Logistics, Industry News, Planning, SHW News
SHW’s planning team have secured a Certificate of Lawfulness from Croydon Council which confirms that this substantially-sized Business Centre has been in B2, B8 and E g uses (Commercial, Business and Service – specifically, for i) office, ii) the research and development of products or processes or iii) any industrial process, which can be carried out in any residential area without causing detriment to the amenity of the area) for a continuous period in excess of 10 years.
The application was made because the current owner wished to dispose of the site. However, whilst there had been good level of interest from several parties, on receipt of an acceptable offer, the prospective purchaser did not feel comfortable enough to proceed with the purchase as they felt unclear on what the lawful use of the site was. This was essentially due to the existence of inconclusive records on the Council’s online planning register. The offer that our client received was therefore, subject to a certificate of lawfulness successfully being secured.
Following our instruction, the planning team visited the site, undertook a thorough site inspection, met with the owner to gain a detailed understanding of the site’s history and spent considerable time researching associated matters online. We subsequently asked our client to prepare a suite of evidence to help demonstrate the site’s lawful use over the past 10 years. The evidence of former and current ‘uses’ accompanied other documentation which we obtained and together, formed our submission pack.
On submission of the application, the Council’s Planning Officers assessed our submission and ultimately concluded that ‘on the balance of probability’ (which is the legal test that had to be met), the existing, lawful use of these commercial premises was confirmed to include for B2, B8 and E g) Use Classes. Our client was subsequently able to sell the premises which demonstrated how securing a certificate of lawfulness had clearly added significant value to their commercial asset.