Property developer wins planning battle over disguised barn home
Alan Beesley and his wife Sarah had faced eviction from their two-storey house, but yesterday the Court of Appeal restored a ruling that the couple had acted within the law.
Mr Beesley was granted permission to build a barn for agricultural use only, but fitted it out as a luxury house complete with three bedrooms, a study, bathroom, lounge, reception area, storeroom and gym.
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Hide AdFrom the outside, the property, North Brook Meadow near Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, looks like any other hay barn with a curved roof, no windows and surrounded by farmyard machinery.
The couple used a legal loophole which grants a certificate of lawfulness to homeowners who have lived in a property for more than four years – even if they failed to obtain the correct planning permission.
High Court judge Mr Justice Andrew Collins branded the deception a fraud in a ruling in April last year and gave Welwyn Hatfield Council the chance to decide whether or not they wanted to evict the pair.
But a panel of three appeal judges yesterday ruled the couple were within the law and had achieved immunity for the use of the building as a dwelling.
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Hide AdLord Justice Mummery said in his ruling: "It is a surprising outcome which decent law-abiding citizens will find incomprehensible: a public authority, deceived into granting planning permission by a dishonest planning application, can be required by law to issue an official certificate to the culprit consolidating the fruits of the fraud."
Lord Justice Richards said the case was a lesson for local planning authorities. Mr Beesley admitted that he deliberately deceived the council when he applied for permission.