- Decision
- approved, 1 September 2026
- Decided by
- Council officer (delegated): SDC delegated (report with twin LBC 26/00899/LBC)
- Authority
- Stratford-on-Avon (West Midlands)
- Application reference
- 26/00898/FUL
- Procedure
- delegated
- Development
- Subdivision of a Grade II listed dwelling into two dwellings with minor external alterations
- Homes
- 1
- Site context
- open countryside, listed building setting
- Green Belt
- No
- Housing land supply
- 2.21 years
- Framework applied
- August 2026 NPPF
- Determinative policies
- S5(1)(c), S5(1)(j), Transitional(2)
- Development plan policies
- Stratford-on-Avon Core Strategy 2016 CS.15, CS.16, CS.20, AS.10
- Main issues
- principle outside settlement; reuse of building
Summary
Subdividing a listed house in Priors Hardwick, a small village with no settlement boundary, into two dwellings. It conflicted with the Core Strategy on location. Granted on 1 September 2026 under S5(1)(c) (reuse of an existing building) and S5(1)(j) (unmet need), with the Core Strategy locational policies given very limited weight.
Issues and findings
- Development plan. "Being in an unsustainable location, residential use is not acceptable in principle and as such the proposal would conflict with CS.20" (Report p.4).
- S5(1)(c). "NDMP S5.1, Part C accepts the reuse of an existing building, provided that it is of permanent and substantial construction, is lawful in planning terms, and any extension or alteration will not result in a disproportionate increase in size … I consider the development proposed here complies" (p.5).
- S5(1)(j). "The Council can demonstrate 2.21 years of housing land supply and I am therefore satisfied that there is an evidenced unmet need" (p.5).
- Balance. "The development proposed here meets with NDMP S5.1, C (reuse of existing building) and J (evidenced unmet need)", and the benefits were not substantially outweighed (pp.8–9).
Planning balance
S5(1): substantial weight to one dwelling against very limited weight to the policy conflicts.
What made the difference
S5(1)(c) is a clean fit for subdivision of an existing dwelling. A location that the Core Strategy calls "unsustainable" does not prevent approval under S5 once the locational policies are given very limited weight.
Transferable points
- Subdividing existing rural dwellings is approved under S5(1)(c) regardless of settlement status (p.5).
- SDC also ticks S5(1)(j) without testing whether a no-BUAB village is a "settlement" or whether the site is "physically well-related" to one (p.5).
Policy findings
Policy codes are those of the National Planning Policy Framework (August 2026) unless a development plan is named.
| Policy | Finding | Weight | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| S5(1)(c) | pass | reuse of an existing lawful building of permanent and substantial construction with very modest additions | |
| S5(1)(j) | pass | 2.21-year supply = evidenced unmet need; "physically well-related to an existing settlement" limb not separately examined for a village with no BUAB | |
| Transitional(2) | conflict | very-limited | CS.15, CS.16, CS.20 and AS.10 materially inconsistent; CS.20 conflicted only because the location was held "unsustainable" for residential use in principle |
| HO7 | benefit | substantial | one net additional dwelling |
Key facts
- Priors Hardwick has no BUAB ("All other settlements" tier); site treated as open countryside under AS.10
- Development plan conflict rests on location; the Framework's S5(1)(c) reuse category answers it
- Decision notice dated 1 Sep 2026
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.