Plot 85 Brixton Hill "Nightmare on Josephine Ave"

[billythefish]

I know of a project in north London where the council accepted the removal of a portacabin from the back garden as a material commencement. They had tried to challenge the developer (who wanted to amend an existing approval), but his legal team knew that there was a loophole in the Act. AFAIK there's no official definition of what constitutes a material commencement, but instead a body of previous court cases and rulings that can be used as a precedent.

For the first few years I lived here, the site had solid hoardings that provided the privacy for the professional ladies that plied their trade on JA.

 

[Rushy]

I know of a project in north London where the council accepted the removal of a portacabin from the back garden as a material commencement. They had tried to challenge the developer (who wanted to amend an existing approval), but his legal team knew that there was a loophole in the Act. AFAIK there's no official definition of what constitutes a material commencement, but instead a body of previous court cases and rulings that can be used as a precedent.

For the first few years I lived here, the site had solid hoardings that provided the privacy for the professional ladies that plied their trade on JA.

That decision does not seem consistent with the case law I have read but that would not be unusual at officer level. There is a definition of what definitely constitutes material commencement but it has been held that other works omitted from the list but essential to executing the permitted work can also be deemed material.

The difference in this case is satisfaction of the conditions precedent, of which there are several listed in the approval, without which the development cannot be deemed to have begun.

 

[T & P]

I wonder how the owner would react to squatters setting up some tents and moving in...