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Planning permission for change of use of pub to residential in Kent

Plainview Planning have been successful in gaining planning permission for the change of use of a pub in Kent to a family home, in the face of a previous planning refusal for the same application on the same site.


Issues

Changing the use of a pub to residential remains one of the hardest feats in our planning system today; notably due to local opposition, the loss of employment uses and community facilities. There was also an objection from the council in regard to the the amount of amenity space proposed.

Outcome

To meet our goal of planning permission, we uncovered and focused on a history of poor trading prior to the pub closing. This was interwoven into a history of the local area, focusing on a decline in local industry (and therefore customers), poor site connectivity, and the availability of other facilities and services in the area. This was presented to the council in a simple to understand diagram setting out all site constraints.

To overcome issues of amenity space, we had to re-formulate our strategy to incorporate a small courtyard garden area, and then focused on the urban context, and local precedents where the council had permitted smaller gardens for larger houses. When backed up with case law, the council had little option than to approve the scheme.
If you are exploring development options at your public house, please do get in contact (publichouses@plainview.co.uk).