Case officers often apply their rules strictly, even when it is simply not justified. We recently won an appeal for Mr & Mrs Williams, a couple in Kingston who wanted to build a two-storey side extension to their end-of-terrace house.
The council refused permission, pointing out that their planning guidance advises against this form of development on the basis it creates a ‘terracing effect’, where the neighbouring houses appear to merge together as if they were a terraced row.
The council is, of course, right to apply their adopted guidance, but they are also expected to show some flexibility. In Mr & Mrs Williams’ case, at least 50% of the houses on the street had already been extended in this way. In that context, how could their extension cause any harm to the streetscene? We were not surprised when our appeal was successful.
