Appeal 6002685

The appeal is dismissed.

The appeal is made pursuant to Schedule 2, Part 3, Class MA of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England), Order 2015 (as amended) (GPDO). Development is permitted under Class MA where it consists of a change of use of a building and any land within its curtilage from a use falling within Class E (commercial, business and service) of Schedule 2 to the Use Classes Order to a use falling within Class C3 (dwellinghouses).

[name].1 of Class MA sets out several requirements, including that the building must fall within one or more of the classes specified for a continuous period of at least two years prior to the date of the application for prior approval. Further to this, [name].2 sets out that development under Class MA is permitted subject to, amongst other aspects, an application to the local planning authority for a determination as to whether prior approval is required in relation to the conditions set out.

The decision notice identifies two reasons for refusal, one of which concerns whether the existing use of the building, specifically the first‐floor area, falls within Class E. At appeal, the Council accepted that, in light of the evidence submitted, this matter has been satisfactorily addressed and no longer forms a point of dispute. Accordingly, I have not considered this issue further in my assessment of the appeal.

The main issue is therefore whether the proposal would provide adequate living conditions for future occupiers with regard to the provision of internal space.

Section 3 (9A) of the GPDO notes that Schedule 2 does not grant permission for or authorise any development of any new dwellinghouse where the gross internal floor area is less than 37m2 or that does not comply with the [name] (NDSS).

The proposed development comprises four one‐bedroom apartments. In each unit, the sleeping area would be located on a mezzanine level accessed via an internal staircase. The Council contends that the inclusion of a mezzanine floor constitutes an additional storey for the purposes of applying the NDSS. On this basis, the Council considers the scheme to fall within the two‐storey dwelling category.

Under the NDSS, a one‐bedroom, two‐person dwelling arranged over two storeys is required to provide a minimum gross internal floor area of 58 m2. However, this requirement applies specifically to a one‐bedroom, two‐person dwelling. The appellant maintains that each apartment is designed to accommodate a single occupant, a position supported by the submitted plans, which clearly show the provision of one single bed per unit.

Referring back to the NDSS, there is no defined minimum internal floor area for a one‐bedroom, one‐person dwelling arranged over two storeys. In the absence of such a standard, it would be unreasonable to assess the proposal against a requirement that, in policy terms, does not exist.

My attention now turns to the matter of headroom within each apartment. The introduction of a mezzanine level would inevitably reduce the available headspace across the first floor of each unit, while also positioning the sleeping area closer to the existing ceiling. The NDSS makes clear that any area with a headroom of less than 1.5 m should not be counted as usable floor space, except where it is used solely for storage, for which the proposal would not be used.

There is, however, no substantive evidence before me confirming the finished headroom either within the proposed bed‐space or within the habitable area beneath each mezzanine. In the absence of clear evidence demonstrating that the required headroom would be achieved, I cannot be satisfied that the development would comply with the relevant standard.

On this basis, I must conclude that the proposal fails to meet the requirements of Section 3(9A) of the GPDO, which does not permit development that does not accord with the NDSS.

For the reason given above, the proposal would not satisfy Section 3 (9A) of the GPDO. Therefore, prior approval is not given. I conclude that the appeal is dismissed.