- Decision
- allowed, 10 September 2026
- Decided by
- Planning Inspector: K Lancaster
- Authority
- County Durham (North East)
- Appeal reference
- 6006352
- Application reference
- DM/26/00072/FPA
- Procedure
- written representations
- Development
- Flexible C3/C4 (small HMO) use of an end-terrace house under an Article 4 area, with single-storey rear extension, cycle and bin storage (non-determination)
- Site context
- inside settlement
- Green Belt
- No
- Framework applied
- August 2026 NPPF
- Determinative policies
- TR6
- Development plan policies
- County Durham Plan 2020 Policies 6, 16, 21, 29, 31, Parking and Accessibility SPD
- Main issues
- parking and highway safety; neighbour living conditions; fire safety
Summary
Flexible C3/C4 small-HMO use of a Durham terrace house, in an Article 4 area, with a rear extension. Allowed on non-determination. The inspector used TR6 directly: the lack of any off-street parking, against the SPD standard, was not an "unacceptable impact on highway safety" given on-street capacity and no highway authority objection (DL ¶14). Student concentration was below the 10% plan threshold.
What made the difference
TR6's high bar for transport refusals, combined with the highway authority's non-objection, trumped a numerical parking-standard shortfall.
Policy findings
Policy codes are those of the National Planning Policy Framework (August 2026) unless a development plan is named.
| Policy | Finding | Weight | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| TR6 | pass | refuse on transport grounds only for unacceptable highway safety impact or severe network impact; no off-street parking against SPD standard, but ample on-street parking and no highway authority objection (DL 11-15) | |
| P3 | pass | extension no deeper than the existing outbuilding; bedrooms exceed NDSS; student Class N exemptions at 9.3% within 100m, below the 10% threshold (DL 16-35); code mapped by harvester |
Key facts
- Zero off-street parking against SPD standard; highway authority no objection (DL 11-13)
- 9.3% of properties within 100m student-exempt, under the 10% Policy 16(3) cap (DL 29)
- Parties consulted on the 2026 Framework (DL 2)
Sources
This note is one of the decisions behind the NPPF 2026 Navigator, which shows how each Framework test has been applied across all the decisions in the database. Also available as Markdown.