Is a small shared house a "single private dwellinghouse" for covenant purposes?

[JamesHopeful]

I think I've found my answer: in Roberts v Howlett [2002] 1 P&CR 19 letting a house to a pre-formed group of four students was held not to be a breach of an identical covenant. This still appears to be the leading case on this question. If I've missed something, however, I'd be keen to hear it.

[JamesHopeful]

(PS I just realised this is more a conveyancing question than a planning question -- any mods around should feel free to move the thread)

[JamesHopeful]

I am thinking of buying a house (in England) which I would let as a small shared house to a pre-formed groups friends on a single joint and several AST.

It is an ex-council house and is subject to the standard restrictive covenant "...not to use the property otherwise than for the...

[JamesHopeful]

Indeed - but front dormers are a relatively unusual proposition, which is why I queried it....

[JamesHopeful]

This might be a stupid question, but aren't dormers almost always within Permitted Development (and therefore don't require planning permission at all)?

Perhaps you're in a conservation area / Article 4 direction area, of course, or you're talking about a front dormer (which would require...

[JamesHopeful]

Exactly! The phrase "tail wagging the dog" springs to mind. OP, if you want to save tax that badly I recommend that you halve the rent you charge your tenants. That's guaranteed to dramatically reduce your tax liability!...

[JamesHopeful]

I'm about to submit a Notification for Prior Approval for a Proposed Larger Home Extension on a house I do not own (it is currently being conveyanced to me).

I know that when applying for planning permission in such circumstances one is obliged to notify the current owners, but does this...

[JamesHopeful]

I'm afraid that I think the latest definition of C3 use class does in fact deal with this:



And section 258 of the Housing Act 2004 definition requires a "household" to be a single family (i.e. not a group of friends).

This means that there appears to...

[JamesHopeful]

Based on the relevant council's attitude to and adopted policies on such matters, if I applied for sui generis (or C1 for that matter) for a holiday let I am 99% sure they'd refuse. That is why I am trying to make sure I understand the limits of what I can do while remaining within C3 use class....

[JamesHopeful]

I've seen some authoritative-seeming blogposts which explain they usually fall within C3, including the following:
http://planninglawblog.blogspot.com/...ge-of-use.html
https://www.thesapodcast.com/03-planning-use-class/ (This one specifically deals with the C1 point).

However,...

[JamesHopeful]

Hello all! I'm thinking of running a holiday let (in England) and was wondering about planning issues.

It might be easiest to split my question into two parts:

Holiday lets sleeping up to six people:
My understanding is that holiday lets sleeping up to six people will...