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31 Tontine Street, Folkestone, CT20 1JT

26/0362/FHFull Planning PermissionRefused
Full

Refused on 13 May 2026

2 reasons for refusal

Approximate location: the centre of the postcode, not the exact property.

Proposal

Partial change of use of an existing ground floor retail unit (Use Class E) to a one bedroom residential flat (Use Class C3) to include the replacement of an existing glazed roof.

Received
9 March 2026
Ward
Folkestone Central
  1. Received9 Mar
  2. Validated18 Mar
  3. Consult.23 Apr
  4. Target
  5. Decided13 May

Decided in 56 days (council typically 49)

About this application

This is a full planning application for a change of use at 31 Tontine Street, Folkestone, CT20 1JT. Folkestone and Hythe has handled 3,080 applications of this type. This one was decided in 65 days, 2 weeks longer than Folkestone and Hythe's typical decision time. The site is in the Folkestone conservation area, with 11 listed buildings nearby. There are no previous applications recorded at this address. In the past year there have been 114 applications across Folkestone Central. We hold 383 applications in total for the CT20 postcode area.

84% of full applications at Folkestone and Hythe District Council were approved. Across all application types, the council typically decides in about 7 weeks (median).

Based on decided applications received in the last 3 years.Planning something similar? See what gets approved on your street

Why it was refused

  1. The proposed flat, by virtue of its layout, design, proximity to neighbouring buildings and lack of windows within the proposed bedroom would result in a lack of outlook, light and privacy for the future resident to the detriment of their amenity. The level of amenity for future occupants of the property would therefore be contrary to policies HB1 and HB8 of the adopted Places and Policies Local Plan 2020.
  2. Insufficient information has been submitted to demonstrate that the development would be safe in relation to flood risk, as no adequate site‑specific Flood Risk Assessment has been provided. The Local Planning Authority is therefore unable to conclude that the proposal would be safe for its lifetime, contrary to paragraph 179 of the National Planning Policy Framework (2024) and Core Strategy Policy SS3.

From the council's decision notice.

Application details

Postcode
CT20 1JT
Application type
Full Planning Permission
Scale / size
Small
Parish
Folkestone

Planning application dates

Date validated
18 March 2026
Consultation expiry
23 April 2026
Consultation end
23 April 2026
Application expires
13 May 2026

Planning decision

Statutory period
56 days

Additional information

Documents
15

Site constraints

Checking the site
2/3
Council recordsAppealsFlood risk

Designations at the address point. Ones next to the site may also apply.

  • Conservation area: Folkestone

Not published by this council, so not checked: Article 4 directions, tree preservation orders and brownfield registers. Ask the council if these matter.

Also checked, none recorded (6)

listed buildings, scheduled monuments, World Heritage Sites, World Heritage Site buffer zones, registered parks and gardens and SSSIs.

A guide only, from official open data; it is not a planning search. Flood zones cover rivers and sea, not surface water.

Data © Crown copyright and others · sources and licences

Contains public sector information from planning.data.gov.uk (MHCLG and local planning authorities), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

© Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. The Historic England GIS Data contained in this material was obtained on 2026-11-03. The most publicly available up to date Historic England GIS Data can be obtained from HistoricEngland.org.uk.

© Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Source: Folkestone and Hythe

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