caravan in residential curtilage. - Public forum - Planning Advisory Service (PAS)

Is this 'Park Home' "incidental to the enjoyment of that dwellinghouse". or is it a new planning unit ? just because the son lives in the 'Park Home' does not mean than it is still an 'ancillary bedroom for the main dwelling, and so incidental. it seems to be a self contained dwelling house, not a 'bedroom' or 'granny annex' Burdle - V - S.o.S for Environment 1972 may be of use. Cheers Don

Charlotte. Definitions such as 'mobile home' and 'park home' don't really help. First and foremost is the 'thing' (to use a technical term!) a 'caravan' as defined in the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 (as amended in 1968); i.e was it designed for human habitation, capable of being moved and less than 60 feet long. If so (it looks like it) it is a use of land as opposed to operational development. Part 5 of the GPDO only applies where the change of use is not material, i.e. because the use is incidental to the use of the dwellinghouse. For a material change of use to have taken place you would have to demonstrate that a new planning unit had been physically and functionally created (as per Burdle), or at the very least that a mixed use had arisen to such an extent that the change change was material. If so development without planning permission will have occured. Assuming there is no physical separation it's the degree of functional indepence that would seem to me to be the central issue. If all the caravan was being used for was as additional bedroom accommodation then it probably would be incedental, but if he effictively lives full time (cooks, showers, entertains, has his post delivered?) at the caravan it would be a separate unit of accommodation, and if expedient enforcement action could be taken. If you cannot be persuaded about the materiality of the change however, but remain concerned about the harm to the neighbour's amenity, how about considering discontinuance action under the provisions of Section 102. Mike

Thankyou to both for your advice v helpful. Charlotte

I read all the replies with a smile on my face, as i so deserve to, as i have heard all this before and please look at all the regulations as you want but from someone who has been through it before to get members of my family on my land, you will not be able to get any of the planning regulations to stand in this situation and you will be wasting tax payers money so my advise is just let them be and stop trying to split the family up, but keep up the good work

Charlotte Sorry I missed saying hello at the TRA Forum in Manchester … I saw your name on the delegate list but failed to track you down! I hope that you enjoyed the day? Anyway … I was wondering how your residential caravan case at the Malt Kiln panned out? We had a ‘chat’ about it on the PAS discussion forum. Did you come to the decision that there was a breach … and enforce? If so was there an appeal and what was the outcome? Cheers Mike

Hi Mike I had to leave early to get the train so I missed the end of your presentation which was v entertaining. I think with this one we decided it was incidental as the occupier took meals and used washing facilities in the main house and there was no separate curtilage . so no enf action taken. He has relocated it further away from the complainants fence now so that has appeased them . I have so many caravan cases at the moment its like an epidemic. Maybe catch you at the next enf update. Charlotte

Hi I like to ask you all a question, if one end of a 35ft mobile home (caravan) is being used as an office for the owner to run there business from and the rest of the caravan is just used for storage do's this still fall under the category of caravan within a residential curtilage used for incidental and ancillary to the use of the main dwelling. Many thanks Thomas

Hi Thomas, yes I would say that the use of a caravan for an office and storage in the residential curtilage is incidental .

I agree with Charlotte ... there would be no material change of use, it's no different to me using my front room as my office, and keeping my bikes in my shed! Mike

I am finding much of this confusing and conflicting. We are looking to have a static caravan for my husband's parents so we can be on hand for his disabled father as they get older. we have a 5acre smallholding and are looking to position this in our back garden alongside the barn. This would only overlook our own paddock but would be visible to the neighbours (who will definitely try to get it blocked as they have tried to prevent us from having our horses and be able to ride at home) This would be within our domestic curtlidge and we have already been awarded an appeal for certificate of lawfullness for existing use as a garden. Unfortunately, based on prior experience, we do not trust our local planning authority. Would we need planning permission for a static caravan, 38ft x 12 ft, plumbed into the residence electricity, water and sewerage or would it fall under PD? I can't really afford another legal battle

Hi Sarah. Provided that the caravan is within your residential curtilage, and provided that it used only for purposes ancilliary to the use of the dwelling (i.e. as 'annexed' accommodation) planning permission will not be required becuse there will be no material change of use of land. In order to have the Council confirm this you should submit an application for a Certificate of Lawfulness of Proposed Use or Development (CLOPUD). I've successfully submitted a number of identical applications recently. There is no precise definition of ancilliary in this context but the more facilities are shared between the house and the caravan, the more ancilliary it will be. Your neighbours cannot object to an application for a CLOPUD, there is not even a requirement for the Council to notify them! I hope that this helps. Mike

Thank you for that Mike. We could do with your contact details if we go ahead with this as I'm sure we will need professional help. The last Certificate for Lawfullness we applied for was denied by the local planning authority (and they wrote to all of the neighbours). I had to engage a planning consultant and a barrister for an appeal which we won hands down after the local planners were found wanting but it proved very expensive, very stressful and took 12 months. I'm hoping this will be easier as at least they now cannot deny our domestic curtilage.

I am currently having these discussions with a local authority in Wales. Based upon the size of the caravan and the intended use the planning officer is concerned that it is not going to be used as ancillary accommodation but as a new dwelling. My view is that the lpa cannot refuse to issue a certificate on the grounds that they apprehend a breach. The only method to stop apprehended breaches is by injunction. Every other enforcement notice required the breach to have taken place. My client runs the risk of enforcement action if he does use the caravan inappropriately but that is his risk and I shall advise him accordingly. Now they are going down the track that the caravan has to be constructed off site in two halves and joined together on site. My view is that the Act says that the caravan has to be capable of being transported by road not that it has to actually be so transported. I see a long fight ahead as I think that my client is going to put the caravan on the land and then see what happens irrespective of the LDC decision, although that is only my suspicion at this time.

Hello Les. I'm having the exact same debate with a National Park Authority in Scotland (that narrows it down a bit!). I've applied for an LDC for an ancilliary residential caravan. They do not believe that it is going to be used in such a manner, and have said that they will refuse it! I've tried arguing that the application is purely theoretical, and that if the caravan is subsequently not occupied in the manner authorised by the Certificate, thay could enforce (provided that head evidence and it was expedient). It's been like banging my head on the proverbial wall! Regards, Mike

Had another LDC for an ancillary residential caravan in a garden issued today; it took 3 weeks to accept the application as valid and less than 1 week to assess and approve it!  No questions about size, siting or design asked at all; it was even within the curtilage of a listed building.  Just goes to show how it can be done!